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Tuesday, Apr. 18 10:30pm ET
Suns give Spurs control of home-court edge | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- Penny Hardaway's first triple-double since 1994 was a wasted effort, not nearly enough for a Phoenix team fading at the worst possible time. Shandon Anderson tied his career high with 35 points as the Houston Rockets beat Phoenix 107-98 Tuesday night to hurt the Suns' bid for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. "I'm very disgusted because we had it right there," Hardaway said. "We were in the driver's seat. Now we have to wait on the Lakers to beat San Antonio, and that's not good at all." The Suns fell behind by 17 in the first half, battled back to tie it in the fourth quarter, then were outscored 20-11 over the final 8½ minutes. "This was very disappointing," Phoenix coach Scott Skiles said. "From the beginning of the game, our execution was poor and for the most part they just did whatever they wanted offensively." After losing two in a row at home for the first time this season, Phoenix has fallen into a tie with San Antonio for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference. Since the Spurs hold the tiebreaker edge, the Suns' only hope is that San Antonio loses at home to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday and Phoenix wins at Golden State. "It's just the pressure that we put on ourselves to go out there and produce," Hardaway said. "We were so uptight that we didn't want to make mistakes. We didn't want to miss shots. Maybe it was too much pressure for this team." Houston's guards shredded Phoenix's defense. Besides Anderson's big game, Steve Francis had 27 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Cuttino Mobley added 24 points, 20 in the first half. "We're playing for next year," Anderson said. "Our core guys are healthy and will be back, and we're playing for that." Charles Barkley had considered making a cameo appearance in the game. But he was in street clothes on the Houston bench to cheer on the Rockets' sixth victory in seven games. Barkley plans to play briefly in the Rockets' final game, Wednesday against Vancouver in Houston. Hardaway had 20 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for his third career triple-double. Cliff Robinson also scored 20, 14 in the second half. Randy Livingston added 19 points. Houston led 69-55 on Anderson's three-point play with 4:35 left in the third quarter. Todd Day scored seven in a row, starting with a 3-pointer, as the Suns outscored the Rockets 16-5 the rest of the quarter to cut it to 74-71 on Robinson's 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds left in the quarter. The Suns finally caught Houston at 76-76 on Livingston's three-point play with 10:44 to play. The game was tied twice more, the last time at 81-81 on Hardaway's drive with nine minutes to go. But Anderson scored seven during a 14-2 spurt that put Houston ahead for good 95-82 on Kelvin Cato's two free throws with 4:32 left. Anderson made two free throws and Moochie Norris sank a 3-pointer to put the Rockets up 86-81. Then, with 7:17 to go, Francis drove the lane and banged into Livingston, who was called for a foul. Day yelled at the official, who called a technical and threw the reserve guard out of the game. Francis made both free throws and the Rockets led 88-81. Phoenix cut it to six twice, the last time at 98-92 on Livingston's basket with 1:35 to go. But Anderson sealed the victory with 1:12 remaining by hitting his sixth 3-pointer. The Rockets were 12-for-22 from 3-point range, 8-for-11 in the first half. Two nights after being overwhelmed by Utah, the Suns came out flat and fell behind in a hurry. The Rockets scored 13 consecutive points, including a pair of 3-pointers by Mobley, to take a 24-12 lead. Anderson sank two 3-pointers and Mobley one to start the second quarter to put Houston ahead 35-18. Game notesBefore the game, Phoenix coach Scott Skiles signed a five-year contract reportedly worth about $2.5 million a year. ... The Suns' Kevin Johnson wasn't in uniform again because of a groin injury. He has missed three of the last four games and played only eight minutes in the other. ... Barkley drew a huge ovation between the third and fourth quarters when he was introduced. ... Francis was 10-for-12 from the field. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Houston Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse After 16 seasons, Barkley walks away in Houston
Suns keep Skiles around with five-year deal
RECAPS Boston 114 Washington 81
Houston 107
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