Every morning I will take an in-depth look at a game that happened the previous night.  The game that I pick is the one that I think was the best and most interesting one of the night/weekend.

If you look at the numbers, it looks like the Suns had this one all wrapped up.  They shot better from the field, better from 3, and they attempted the same number of foul shots that the Heat did (this is key, some games the Heat get to the line a ridiculous amount).  The key of the game was the number of shots taken.  The Heat took 10 more shots than the Suns.  The reason?  Steals and Turnovers.

What the Heat Did Right?

They got steals

The Heat were able to get 10 steals against the Suns Friday night.  These steals were key, not only because they prevented the Suns from getting an attempt at the basket (remember the Suns were shooting well this game), but because it lead to fast break opportunities for the Heat.  In this video, here are two steals that directly lead to points for the Heat (you could consider this 4 to 5 point swings because the Suns don’t get a shot – where if they would make it they could score 2 or 3 points -  and the Heat score):

They scored in the paint

The Heat also outscored the Suns in the paint (36-30).  A lot of it was the ball movement opening up things inside:

Beasley is going to set a screen for Rafer Alston.  Instead of straight rolling, Beasley is going to half-pop towards the sideline.

Rafer Alston does a very smart thing here.  He gets the ball out of his hands quickly, before Channing Frye can get back after hedging.

Beasley makes the catch as Frye is still trying to recover on Beasley.  Now here is where the Suns broke down on defense.  There are 3 Suns there who can rotate over on Beasley.  All of them are flat-footed though, so none of them can get over in time.

Stoudemire gets there, but is late, and Beasley finishes with the lay-up.

What The Suns Did Wrong?

They were too careless with the ball

Along with the 10 steals the Heat had, the Suns turned it over 7 more times.  In all, the 17 turnovers lead to 23 points for the Heat.  Also, these turnovers limited the opportunities the Suns had at the basket, which is the reason for the 10 fewer shots they had (and it probably cost them the game):

A lot of turnovers that don’t come from steals are from offensive fouls.  Some calls are iffy, but this one was obvious, and just a lack of focus from Channing Frye.  Here, he is setting a screen for Barbosa.

Frye initiates the screen, and Beasley comes out to meet Barbosa.

Beasley shows and then repositions himself behind the screen.  Frye stays initiated with the screen, it is actually a good screen until…

…Frye decides to swing an elbow into Mario Chalmers.  The thing that must bother the Suns’ coaching staff is that it was a very good screen and Barbosa is on his way to the basket.  This was a good chance at points, and it vanished.  The kicker?  The Heat drilled a 3 the next possession.

Every morning, I am going to be taking a look at the some of the more interesting games that took place the night before.  The name isn’t original at all, but the content is:

Milwaukee Bucks 98 – New Jersey Nets 76

If I have to watch the Nets every time they play (and I do), you are going to have to read about them.  I have been pretty positive through the Nets’ first 34 games (they are 3-31), but I think it was safe to say that last night’s game was the most embarrassing performance of them all.

I don’t know if it was because they were coming off a solid performance against the Cavs, or if it was because they started so well (8-0 run to start the game), but it was just real tough to watch.  Nobody on the Nets had a good a real good game except for Yi, who put up 22 points (but only 2 rebounds).

After the 8-0 run, Scott Skiles pulled both Andrew Bogut and Luc Mbah a Moute.  The strategy worked, as the Bucks’ bench outscored the Nets’ bench 34-7 in the first half, and Bogut played like a man possessed in the second half, finishing with 22 points on 9-12 shooting.

Turning Point – Skiles’ benching.  After pulling Bogut and Mbah a Moute, the Bucks’ closed the first quarter on a 22-8 run and it sparked a big performance from Andrew Bogut.

Phoenix Suns 113 – Sacramento Kings 109

This game was just an awesome one to watch.  There were at least 3 separate different runs, where you thought one team was out of it, they clawed back.

Casspi didn’t play that well in the first half, but he turned it on in the second, hitting some 3s and attacking the basket aggressively.  In the end though, the Suns’ experience was too much for the young Kings.  A young Kings team that saw its two rookies (Casspi and Evans) put up 51 of their 109 points.

Turning Point: Nash’s Dagger.  It was one of the few times that the Suns held the ball, but up 2 Nash dribbled out the clock and then calmly drilled a jumper, putting the Suns’ up four and effectively ending the game.

I am experiementing with different types of morning recap posts, so be patient with me.  Stay tuned for some possession breakdowns later today…

Every Monday, I will be picking the one game from the upcoming week that I find most interesting and I will break it down.

There are some real good games coming up this week, but the one that caught my attention when I was looking ahead at the schedule was the Suns-Kings game on Tuesday night. The first reason being you have Tyreke Evans vs. Steve Nash. The second, both teams love to run the court, and when they get going, it is real fun to watch.

The Last Time They Met

• The Suns won the game 115 to 107
• The Kings started the game with a tall lineup in there. Evans was at point, with Donte Green playing the 2
• Andres Nocioni and Tyreke Evans had 21 and 20 points respectively
• Steve Nash had 32 points and 6 assists
• The Suns hit 6 three pointers late (in the last 7 or so minutes – 7/9 in the fourth) to help pull away from the game

Kings “Go To” Set

Tyreke Evans in the post. The Kings started off the game having Evans run right into the post. Not only did he score out of the post, but he forced the Suns defense to rotate towards him, allowing for other Kings’ players. It was so successful that the Suns were forced to switch defenders on him (going from Nash to Grant Hill) just three possessions in.

The Suns might not match Nash up against Evans, but Evans will be covering Nash, so there will be times where Nash will be forced to cover Evans, and when that happens, look for Tyreke to run straight to the post.

Suns “Go To” Set

The Pick and Roll/Pick and Pop. You guys already know my love for the pick and roll, and when the Suns run it, they are very dangerous. Steve Nash is such a good decision maker, you can’t let him get a clean run off the screen, so most teams switch the Suns pick and roll. Whenever this happens, Nash doesn’t force it, he backs it out and uses the mismatch to his advantage:

The Suns run this a ton, and it is a major key to their offense, along with the fast break.

Kings’ Weakness

Late in the game, it turned into the “Tyreke Evans Show” in a bad way. They got him the ball early in the clock on the wing, and as the rest of the team stood and watched, Evans tried to score, it didn’t work out too well. However, when the rest of the team was touching the ball and it was getting swung around, the Kings were scoring. They just didn’t do enough of this late.

Now, I had video to support this, but for some reason, the fourth quarter footage that I have from the game isn’t jiving with the my video program.

Suns’ Weakness

The Suns tend to get 3 point happy every once in a while, it helped them pull away from the Kings late (Up 5 under 2 minutes left, they still were able to get 3 more threes up), but if they would have missed a couple of these shots, they would have shot Sacramento back in it.