Dragic's 32, Markieff Morris 16, Marcus Morris 15, leads Suns to 112-88 win against Knicks as forwarded by Van Stone frontpagenews1@yahoo.com (267)293-9201

Dragic's 32, Markieff Morris 16, Marcus Morris 15, leads Suns to 112-88 win against Knicks as forwarded by Van Stone frontpagenews1@yahoo.com (267)293-9201

 From L to R: Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris Twins. 

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns (44-29) shot, ran and dunked their way to a 112-88 victory on Friday night over the defensively uninterested New York Knicks (30-43). The win gave the Suns their sixth in a row, the second longest winning streak in the NBA, only behind the 16 straight by the San Antonio Spurs.

Suns coach Jeff Hornacek called the game their, “best overall win of the year.”

It truly was a dominant game from start to finish for the Suns. The Suns won every statistical category including a whopping 19 rebound edge on the Knicks led my Miles Plumlee’s 12 boards.
For the highlight of the game? Well, you can take your pick with that.

Any one of the multiple Plumlee dunks would be up for nomination — my vote would be his halfcourt reverse ally-opp from Eric Bledsoe, narrowly beating out his put-back one-handed slam with his off hand. Bledsoe’s clean block on the 7-foot-1 Tyson Chandler is not a bad option either. Or how about the lucky fan that hit hit a half court shot, winning $77,777? It was just that kind of night for the Suns.

Guard Goran Dragic got the Suns going early by scoring 18 first quarter points, hitting all three of his three point attempts. He finished the game with 32 points, and five stitches. He received the stitches above his eye after being on the wrong end of an accidental Chandler elbow late in the second quarter.

“We tell the guys that if you play hard, which Goran does, that your going to get hurt a few times,” Hornacek said. “And that is alright, there is nothing wrong with getting a couple knocks on your head.

“That is Goran, he ran off the court because I knew he wanted to get back into the game. He played a great game and got us off to a great start.”

Dragic hit seven of his first eight shots and credited a lazy Knicks defense for the hot start.

“They were not contested shots, so I just spot up and just shoot it. I think that every time they are going to do that then I am going to have a good game,” Dragic said.

The Suns broke the game open in the second quarter thanks to an 18-3 run to close out the first half, out-running and out-hustling a Knicks team that showed disinterest for most of the first half. A quick start to the second half gave the Suns a 32-point lead, their largest of the game.

Forward PJ Tucker was pleased with the complete performance tonight.

“I told the guys, let us put a game together,” Tucker said. “I feel like this is the first game that we played from start to finish a complete game.”

The Knicks started showing some interest late in the third and cut the lead down to 17 early in the fourth quarter before a Bledsoe three and a Dragic and-one layup quickly boosted the Suns lead and catapulted them to a 12-0 run.

Stoudemire has returned to full health, and with that, has returned to being a good NBA player again. Early on, the former six-time All-Star and former Sun showed athleticism offensively, making a couple strong and physical moves to the basket in scoring eight points in the first half. The forward finished the game 19 points and six rebounds, his 12th straight game in double figures.

“You definitely want to win the game,” Stoudemire said on coming back to Phoenix. “On a positive note I saw my mom, nephew, cousins and friends. So on a positive note that was cool, but other than that I definitely wanted to get this win.”

Yes. Anthony still got his points, 21, but was never a factor in the game. PJ Tucker and a Morris brother did a solid job of being physical with Melo every time he touched the ball on offense. The physical style of play seemed to get into Anthony’s head. At one point in the third quarter after a Anthony miss in front of the Suns bench, the Morris brothers — on the bench at the time — and Tucker were jawing at Anthony.
“He might be the best scorer in the NBA,” Tucker said. “I have been going against him since we were kids, so since then we have been battling. He goes so hard and I love going against him because he is such a competitive guy.”

Defensively, Anthony was pretty much non-existent. Multiple times he stood and allowed a player to drive by him, or a player to grab an offensive rebound. There is no doubt he is a marquee player in this league, but I am not seeing him being the best player on a championship team.

Markieff Morris, like the rest of the Suns, was doing what he wanted on offense in the first half. The forward had 14 points at halftime and six rebounds; three were offensive and all of of those led to Suns points. Morris was showing his skill on his outside shot, hitting both of the three point attempts, and inside the paint tonight. 

The forward from Kansas finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and a technical, giving him 13 on the year. He will be suspended for a game when he reaches 16, so it is something to keep an eye on. And Marcus Morris had 15 points. 

PHOENIX (AP) - Goran Dragic scored 32 points in 32 minutes and the Phoenix Suns routed the New York Knicks 112-88 on Friday night for their season-high sixth victory in a row.
Eric Bledsoe added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Markieff Morris scored 16 and Miles Plumlee had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns, who led by 22 at halftime and 32 in the third quarter.
Carmelo Anthony scored 21, seven below his season average, and Amare Stoudemire 19 for the Knicks, blown out for the second time in three games on their five-game western trip.
With Memphis' loss at Golden State, Phoenix pulled a half-game ahead of the Grizzlies for the No. 7 playoff spot in the West. The Suns are a game ahead of Dallas. The Knicks fell two games behind Atlanta for the eighth spot in the East

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20140329_ap_2777fa51fff84578ba55366aa36b95e7.html#URmCrd13DY8Bpy9w.99

Dragic, who scored 18 in the first quarter, returned to start the second half after getting five stitches to repair a cut just above the left eye, the result of a second-quarter collision with Tyson Chandler's massive arm.
Phoenix's streak is its longest since the Suns won 10 straight four years ago.
The smaller Suns dominated the boards 56-37 and had a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint.
It wasn't quite as bad for the Knicks as their 127-96 embarrassment against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, but it wasn't close after the first 1 1/2 quarters.
The Suns, a season-high 15 games above .500, outscored the Knicks 24-6 over the final 8:49 of the half to lead 62-40 at the break.
Most of the run occurred without Dragic, who took a swipe to the face from the arm of Chandler and got a cut over his left eye. Dragic had 20 at the half on 8-for-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 on 3s.
Phoenix shot 52 percent in the first half to New York's 39 percent. The Suns were 8-of-20 on first-half 3s, the Knicks 4 of 13. The smaller Suns even outrebounded New York in the first two quarters 26-17.
Anthony, the No. 2 scorer in the NBA at 28.2 points per game, had 10 in the first half on 4-of-10 shooting.
Things got worse for New York early in the third quarter. Dragic made two 3s and Bledsoe one to put the Suns up 78-47 and Plumlee's reverse jam on an alley-oop pass from Bledsoe made it 82-50 with 6:40 left in the period, Phoenix's biggest lead against anyone this season. But New York finished the quarter with a 13-4 run to reduce the lead to 88-66 entering the fourth.
The Knicks cut it to 92-75 in the fourth quarter, leading Suns coach Jeff Hornacek to put Dragic and Bledsoe back in the game. The lead quickly expanded to 104-75 on Plumlee's rebound dunk with six minutes to play.
NOTES: Tim Boven, an engineer at Honeywell from suburban Peoria, won $77,777 by sinking a shot from halfcourt during a second-quarter timeout. ... Stoudemire played in Phoenix for only the second time since leaving the Suns following the 2010 season. ... Morris drew his 13th technical foul of the season. ... Phoenix is 20-10 against Eastern Conference foes.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20140329_ap_2777fa51fff84578ba55366aa36b95e7.html#URmCrd13DY8Bpy9w.99

Dragic, who scored 18 in the first quarter, returned to start the second half after getting five stitches to repair a cut just above the left eye, the result of a second-quarter collision with Tyson Chandler's massive arm.
Phoenix's streak is its longest since the Suns won 10 straight four years ago.
The smaller Suns dominated the boards 56-37 and had a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint.
It wasn't quite as bad for the Knicks as their 127-96 embarrassment against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, but it wasn't close after the first 1 1/2 quarters.
The Suns, a season-high 15 games above .500, outscored the Knicks 24-6 over the final 8:49 of the half to lead 62-40 at the break.
Most of the run occurred without Dragic, who took a swipe to the face from the arm of Chandler and got a cut over his left eye. Dragic had 20 at the half on 8-for-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 on 3s.
Phoenix shot 52 percent in the first half to New York's 39 percent. The Suns were 8-of-20 on first-half 3s, the Knicks 4 of 13. The smaller Suns even outrebounded New York in the first two quarters 26-17.
Anthony, the No. 2 scorer in the NBA at 28.2 points per game, had 10 in the first half on 4-of-10 shooting.
Things got worse for New York early in the third quarter. Dragic made two 3s and Bledsoe one to put the Suns up 78-47 and Plumlee's reverse jam on an alley-oop pass from Bledsoe made it 82-50 with 6:40 left in the period, Phoenix's biggest lead against anyone this season. But New York finished the quarter with a 13-4 run to reduce the lead to 88-66 entering the fourth.
The Knicks cut it to 92-75 in the fourth quarter, leading Suns coach Jeff Hornacek to put Dragic and Bledsoe back in the game. The lead quickly expanded to 104-75 on Plumlee's rebound dunk with six minutes to play.
NOTES: Tim Boven, an engineer at Honeywell from suburban Peoria, won $77,777 by sinking a shot from halfcourt during a second-quarter timeout. ... Stoudemire played in Phoenix for only the second time since leaving the Suns following the 2010 season. ... Morris drew his 13th technical foul of the season. ... Phoenix is 20-10 against Eastern Conference foes.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20140329_ap_2777fa51fff84578ba55366aa36b95e7.html#URmCrd13DY8Bpy9w.99