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Kings Notes: Suns coach Mike D'Antoni praises Reggie Theus and the team chemistry.
By Sam Amick - samick@sacbee.com
Last Updated 12:34 am PDT Sunday, March 16, 2008
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C3
PHOENIX – If Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni was the tone setter for his team, then there was no way the Suns would be overlooking the Kings on Saturday night.
Before his squad used a 42-14 second quarter en route to a rout at US Airways Arena, D'Antoni explained how he sees the Kings as quite the potential spoiler in the season's final stretch. He lauded Kings coach Reggie Theus and his team for a road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on March 9, then dismissed the losses to Minnesota and the Los Angeles Clippers as the unfortunate product of human nature on teams no longer in playoff contention.
"When they've been all healthy, there's not many teams that have blown them out or even won," D'Antoni said. "They see us, and they kind of measure themselves (against an elite team), then they see Minnesota, and it really doesn't matter. I can understand that. I think (Theus) has done a great job."
"Reggie's got them playing really well. It seems like they've got a good chemistry going. I'm just glad we already played them twice in Sacramento. It's not a sure thing we'll do it here, but if you've got one left, it's better that it's at home."
He was right. Phoenix's 79-point first half came just one point shy of its season high in a half. The mark came against the Kings on Nov. 21 in Phoenix, where the Suns' 80-point first half led to a 127-111 victory. In the two first halves, the Suns hit 63 of 91 shots (69.2 percent).
Making a point – Entering the fourth and final Kings-Suns matchup, point guard Steve Nash would have been hard pressed to top his previous efforts in the series.
As Phoenix won the first three meetings, Nash totaled 42 assists and just seven turnovers. By comparison, the Kings had 47 assists and 42 turnovers.
Bigwigs on hand – Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof and team president John Thomas were in attendance.
About the writer:
- Read Sam Amick's Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/blogs.
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