Suns Bounce Warriors From Playoff Hunt

Amaré Stoudemire scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and Phoenix recovered after blowing a 17-point lead to beat Golden State 122-116 Monday night, eliminating the Warriors from playoff contention.

Still dealing with bouts of inconsistency and sloppy play, the Suns gave back a 17-point lead to Golden State and trailed by 11 before rallying. The 122-116 win ended the Warriors’ playoff hopes before a US Airways Center crowd that vacillated between satisfaction, anger and euphoria.

Amaré Stoudemire fought off a chest cold to score 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, when the Suns sat Shaquille O’Neal despite his 19-point, 15-rebound production. The Suns instead went with a smaller lineup that finally shook them out of their second-half snooze.

Steve Nash was one rebound short of a triple-double (13 points, nine rebounds and 14 assists) despite another tough shooting night (4-for-11) and the Suns also might have benefited from Golden State coach Don Nelson’s head-scratching decision to “rest” Baron Davis for the entire second half of a game his team had to have.

So with 81 games down, Utah, Phoenix and Houston are all tied for fourth place, one game behind San Antonio after the Spurs beat Sacramento and the Jazz beat the Rockets while the Suns were holding serve.

If the Suns lose their season finale Wednesday, they are the No. 6 seed and would face the No. 3 seed — which will be San Antonio if the Spurs win — in the first round. But if they win and the Spurs lose at home to the Jazz in their final game, the Suns could find themselves in a tiebreaker situation that could leave them with the home-court advantage, most likely — but not positively — against the Rockets.

One thing we know is that Denver is the eighth seed and Golden State, despite 48 wins, will watch the playoffs from home.

The Suns had half of their 16 turnovers in the third quarter and the Warriors turned them into 10 of their 38 points — a season high for scoring in a quarter by any Suns opponent this season. Jackson scored 16 points and a 14-point halftime lead was flip-flopped into a five-point deficit.

Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa each had five points in the final quarter when the Stoudemire/Nash pick-and-roll combo needed a break.

“The turnovers were a product of not concentrating and we lost our minds somewhere along the road,” Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We gave them hope. I’m just glad they got it back together with about five or six minutes to go. Raja hit some big shots and LB did and we were able to pull it out.

“We were good for a long time tonight, but we lost out concentration.

“I hope they’re waiting for the playoffs. I’ll go to bed with that thought, because it’s the only way I can get to sleep.”

SUNS SPOTS

Did you see that? Down 11 with 7:09 to play (107-96), the Suns outscored the Warriors 26-9 the rest of the way to cap a 32-point fourth quarter and pull out the win.

Player of the game: Fighting a bad cold, Amaré Stoudemire had 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and added 11 rebounds in 34 minutes. It was the 18th straight game he’s scored at least 20 points, the third-longest streak in Suns history.

Unsung hero(es): Steve Nash finished one rebound shy of his fourth career triple-double with 13 points, nine rebounds and 14 assists. He had another tough shooting night (4-for-11, 1-for-6 from 3-point range) but teamed with Stoudemire to fuel the comeback.

Thumbs up: The Suns pulled together and won after blowing a 17-point lead and giving up 38 third-quarter points. Phoenix went back to the small lineup that has been effective in the past against the Warriors and rode it home.

Thumbs down: The last thing the Suns wanted was an injury, and Grant Hill limped off in the second quarter after aggravating his groin injury. It’s not believed to be serious, but Hill is having trouble getting back to tip-top health to start the postseason.

COPYRIGHT 2008, EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE. Used with permission.