NBA Triple Threat: Your daily roundup of last night's action in the Association:Suns pull away in fourth The Sonics were game for the first three quarters, but in the end it was too much Phoenix in a 106-99 win. The Sonics actually led by as many as nine late in the third, but the Suns rallied back from there thanks to timely three point shooting. Kevin Durant finished with 27 points on a much improved 11-23 shooting in his second career NBA game. Seattle impressed much of the night, but show in the fourth that they're still young and inexperienced, and that it will take a while to turn these kinds of games into wins.
Rockets get impressive road win Score one for those on the Rockets' bandwagon, as Houston picks up a nice win on the road against Utah, 106-95. Tracy McGrady was the catalyst, pouring in 47 points for Houston. The Jazz struggled in the second quarter, being outscored 33-20, and were unable to recover. Boozer, Williams, and Okur had good games, but Utah got nothing from everyone else. The bench finished with 13 points, or just two behind Mike James for the night.
Pistons defeat Wade-less Heat Miami can look on the bright side; it wasn't as bad a beating as last year's first game. However, it was still a loss, 91-80 to Detroit. Shaq needed to step up with Wade out, and he did not, scoring just nine points and taking just six shots. Tayshaun Prince, however, did step up, scoring a career high 34 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Prince's big night made up for not having Rip Hamilton, who was out attending a family matter. While it's certainly way too early to jump to conclusions, this could be an omen of how Miami plays while Wade is out.
Best Lines
- Tracy McGrady, Hou: 47 pts, 17-27 FG, 4 rebs, 4 ast
- Tayshaun Prince, Det: 34 pts, 12 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl
- Carlos Boozer, Uta: 30 pts, 16 rebs, 3 ast
- Al Jefferson signs extension...Jefferson, as well as many other members of the 2004 Draft class. The question is how many of these extensions will turn into albatross contracts in the next two years.
- Suns staying pat...While you certainly don't want to add for the sake of adding, that just feels like a bad idea.
- No deals for Gordon and Deng...5 years and $50 million each were rejected, which is a calculated risk. Does that help facilitate a trade or hinder it?
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