Suns Keep Rollin' vs Cavs - Win 17th Straight
Borrowing a line from Limp Bizkit, the Phoenix Suns Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', enroute to their 17th straight win. The winning streak is the longest in Suns franchise history and one of only 5 streaks in NBA history of 17 games or more. Phoenix is only 4 wins away from having the 2nd longest winning streak in NBA history and 17 victories away from overtaking the L.A. Lakers streak of 33 straight wins in 1971-72 (ok, so they're half way - but they're only the 5th team to get this far).
Led by a spectacular game from Steve Nash, the Suns cruised over the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 115-100 win (in Cleveland). Sunday afternoon's game marked the return of Lebron James who missed Friday's game w/ a sore toe. James' statline doesn't exactly reflect the injury, but I'm sure the rest helped him; he finished w/ 30 pts, 9 rbs, 5 asts and 2 stls, while shooting over 50% from the field - only 50% from the charity stripe however.
Despite the gaudy win streak and 1st place in the NBA right now, the Suns still maintain that winning during the regular season isn't the team's objective. Team leader Steve Nash says that the streak is great and all, but the Suns won't be happy until they get to the NBA Finals and win the championship; anything less will be unacceptable.
"People don't talk about the 33-game streak, they talk about who won the championship that year," Steve Nash said, noting the Lakers won the league title in '71-'72. "I don't feel unbeatable. We've got a lot of improving to do."
Nash and Shawn Marion both finished w/ 23 pts to lead the Suns, but Nash's 15 assists and zero turnovers were much more impressive.
With the Suns routing each of their opponents since late November (only 2 losses after Nov. 20th), it will be interesting to see how many players All-Star coach Mike D'Antoni will pick from his own squad to participate in the main event: Nash, Marion and Amare Stoudemire could all end up going. I'm sure he wants to reward them for their play, but he may want to consider letting them rest as well so they can keep playing deep into the season.
The Suns will face the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight, as they attempt to win their 18th in a row.