|
DENVER -- Markieff Morris found himself on the bench after he didnt hustle back and allowed a dunk in the second quarter. Joe Greene Steelers Jersey . That certainly got his attention. Next time in, Morris played with way more determination. Same with the rest of the Phoenix Suns. It was the only way to erase an early 21-point deficit. Morris scored 25 points and Gerald Green added 19, helping the Suns rally for a 103-99 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. "We never quit. We came out and fought all the way to the end," Morris said. "Its a great feeling, man." It was hardly one player, either, and the reserves played a big hand, too, outscoring the starters, 64-39. "That just goes to show you what type of team we have," said Green, who tied a career-high with six 3-pointers. "Some nights are not going to be everybodys night. Any given night, somebody can step up on this team and help us win. Thats what it takes. "That shows a lot about our character." First, Green got hot, hitting 3-pointer after 3-pointer. And once the Nuggets spread out their defence in order to stop the long-range shooting, Goran Dragic went to work by driving the lane. He finished with 17 points, including two big layups down the stretch. Steadily, the Suns worked their way back into a contest that looked all but over, especially with the Nuggets up 79-62 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter. But Suns coach Jeff Hornacek kept them on course, kept their confidence high. That did the trick. "Ive got to give coach the credit, he never panicked. He never yelled at us," Green said. "He just kept with it, kept telling us to stick with the plan and its going to work." Wilson Chandler had 15 points for the Nuggets, while J.J. Hickson added 13 points and 14 rebounds. Ty Lawson was in the lineup despite coming down with a stomach bug on Thursday. He was slightly off his game, going 3 of 11 from the floor and finishing with 13 points. "They were down 21 points but they kept fighting," Denver forward Darrell Arthur said. Phoenix tied it 88-all on a layup from Ish Smith -- his only basket of the game -- with 8:21 remaining. Soon after, the Suns took their first lead since scoring the opening bucket when Dragic dribbled past Denver defenders for a layup. From there, it was back and forth until a pair of free throws and a layup from Dragic gave the Suns a four-point lead. With a 102-99 advantage, Phoenix allowed Randy Foye to get a good look at a 3-point attempt, but Foye was off target with 5.9 seconds remaining. Morris sealed the win by making a free throw. A character-building win for the Suns. A demoralizing loss for the Nuggets as they lost their second straight game at Pepsi Center to drop to 7-5 at home on the season. They were a franchise-best 38-3 last season. "Im not very happy, and Ill take the hit for tonights game, for allowing some things in practice to carry over into the game," coach Brian Shaw said. "When it was going good for us in the first half, we were all smiles and played as if the game was over and didnt have a second half to play." Dragic and fellow guard Eric Bledsoe entered the game averaging more than 18 points apiece. They combined for 27, with Dragics biggest buckets arriving down the stretch. For that, he credits Green. "We were hitting those 3s. Then, their players, they were afraid to be in the paint, to leave open our shooters," Dragic said. "Its much easier when you have more space in the paint -- you can create. We did that." At 15-10, the Suns may just be ahead of schedule in terms of turning around a team that had the worst record in the Western Conference last season. "Were winning some games against some good teams and thats giving them confidence and helping to speed up the process a little bit," Hornacek said. NOTES: Both teams return to the court Saturday night. Phoenix hosts the Dallas Mavericks while the Nuggets play the Clippers in Los Angeles. ... The fourth quarter turned into quite a show Markieff Morris and twin Marcus as they combined for 16 points. ... Jordan Hamilton served his one-game suspension for throwing a punch at Oklahoma City centre Steven Adams on Tuesday. ... Nate Robinson picked up a technical foul in the second quarter. ... According to the Nuggets, the 21 points was their largest blown lead at home since Nov. 29, 2002, against Golden State. Mel Blount Jersey . The Bruins suffered their share of setbacks, a notable one just a week earlier. Once the Pac-12 tournament got rolling, the Bruins took off. Mike Webster Steelers Jersey . Ulissi made his move inside the final 300 metres, bursting out of the peloton to edge Robert Kiserlovski for a second stage win in the race. Wilco Kelderman was third on the 179-kilometre (111-mile) leg from Foligno to Montecopiolo, which had two category one climbs, including the final ascent to the finish.LONDON -- Martina Hingis is returning to play at Wimbledon for the first time in seven years. The former singles and doubles champion from Switzerland was granted a wild card by the All England Club on Wednesday for the womens doubles tournament. Her partner is Russias Vera Zvonareva, a former doubles winner and singles runner-up. In addition to her singles title in 1997, the 33-year-old Hingis is a two-time doubles winner at Wimbledon, with Helena Sukova in 1996 and Jana Novotna in 1998. After a second retirement in 2007, Hingis returned to the game in July 2013 but has restricted her outings to doubles. She last played at Wimbledon in 2007, losing in the third round of the singles. Her last doubles appearance at Wimbledon dates back to 2000, when she went out in the second round. Hingis has been playing dooubles this year with Germanys Sabine Lisicki. Jason Worilds Steelers Jersey. They won in Miami, giving Hingis her first title since 2007. With Lisicki now concentrating on singles, Hingis turned to Zvonareva, who won the Wimbledon doubles title with Elena Vesnina in 2010 and lost to Serena Williams in the singles final in 2010. However, the 29-year-old Zvonareva has barely competed since 2012 because of illness and injury. Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2006, was granted a wild card for the mens singles tournament. His ATP ranking has slipped to No. 118. Five British players also received wild cards. Among the women, Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic and three British players were given wild card singles entries. More wild cards will be announced before play begins on June 23rd. ' ' ' |
