Inland Waterways » great night from their starters

Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Isaiah Thomas finally got the Phoenix Suns over the hump. Thomas had 23 points off the bench and the Suns defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-89 on Friday night. After the Suns came close many times throughout the game to take a lead over the defending champs, Thomas blew past Boris Diaw in the open floor to finally put the hosts in front 88-87 with 3:34 left. San Antonio trailed 92-89 with 6.5 seconds remaining following a timeout, but Diaw was whistled for a five-second violation just before he signaled for a 20-second timeout. Eric Bledsoe sunk two game-clinching free throws at the other end. Markieff Morris posted 20 points and 11 rebounds, Eric Bledsoe tallied 12 points and nine boards and Alex Len provided his first career double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds, off the pine for Phoenix, which beat the Los Angeles Lakers in its season opener Wednesday. The way he was playing with his length had a real effect on the game, Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said of Len. Tony Parker supplied 19 points and six assists, while Tim Duncan added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who edged Dallas in their first game of the year on Tuesday. It just didnt go our way. We didnt get baskets and we didnt get the stops that we needed to win the game, said Parker. It just happens, its basketball, it just didnt go our way. Parker and Marco Belinelli sandwiched 3-pointers around a Gerald Green triple to stake the Spurs to a 77-70 cushion early in the fourth before three consecutive Thomas buckets trimmed the gap to 77-76. San Antonio, though, responded with an 8-1 spurt, with a Cory Joseph turnaround jumper providing it an 84-78 spread with 6:53 to play. Phoenix answered back with a 12-3 surge and Hornacek used a three point guard lineup in the final 4:35. After Thomas layup, Morris sunk two free throws and then put down a dunk off a Len interior pass to make it 92-87 in favor of Phoenix with 1:09 left on the clock. Manu Ginobili was fouled on a three and made 2-of-3 foul shots at the other end. Bledsoe was off on a jumper, Len backtapped the ball back to Thomas to retain possession, but Thomas misfired to give San Antonio possession with 16.9 ticks left. Earlier, a 15-3 Spurs first-quarter swing gave them an early 24-9 margin and they led 24-11 after the frame. The Suns began the second with a 13-2 run and later tied the game at 30-30 midway through the stanza after Len threw down an alley-oop pass from Bledsoe. San Antonio responded by putting in eight straight points and took a 45-36 lead into the break. The Spurs took a 71-67 edge into the fourth. Game Notes Thomas became the fourth Sun, joining Tom Chambers, Tom Gugliotta and A.C. Green, to scored at least 23 points in his first two games with the team ... Phoenix shot just 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) from beyond the arc, but made 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) from the foul line. Cheap Air Max 90 Wholesale . The Padres made the moves before Fridays game at Washington. They promoted infielder Jace Peterson from Double-A San Antonio and right-hander Kevin Quackenbush from Triple-A El Paso. Air Max 90 Australia Outlet . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. http://www.cheapaustraliaairmax90.com/ . The Leafs were back on the ice Wednesday following an 10-day break. It apparently wasnt long enough, as Team Canadas 2-1 win over Latvia didnt conclude before the Leafs began practice. "I was thinking we might get a little delay, but it was nice to get out there," said Tyler Bozak of watching Wednesdays game. Wholesale Air Max 90 Australia . - First-timer Chris Harris Jr. Buy Cheap Air Max 90 . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010.AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Chicago Bulls didnt get a great night from their starters Wednesday. Their backups made sure they didnt need one. Reserves D.J. Augustin and Taj Gibson combined for 48 points on 18-of-30 shooting as the Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons 105-94 for their fifth win in six games. The Bulls only led by one point going into the fourth, but Augustin and Gibson had 20 of Chicagos 34 in the fourth. "A lot of guys are stepping up on this team right now," Gibson said. "Everyone is working hard and helping in whatever way we need. The guys are just focused on the team right now." Both coaches went with seven-man rotations for most of the game, but Chicagos duo completely outmatched Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum. They finished with 12 points on 5-of-20 shooting, including a 1-for-11 night from Bynum. "Will played his heart out, just like he always does," Pistons coach John Loyer said. "He gives us everything hes got every night, but there are going to be some games where the ball just rolls off the rim. Theyve got two very good players coming off the bench -- Gibson has done that all year for them and Augustin has been like that since he got to Chicago." Joakim Noah finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his sixth career triple-double, including two in the last three games and three in the last month, while Jimmy Butler had 18 points and 12 rebounds. "Jos our leader, and a triple-double is nothing to him," Butler said. "We are starting to expect that from him. He does so many things well that it makes it easier for the rest of us." Greg Monroe led Detroit with 27 points, but the Pistons struggled all night to get anything going from the outside. They took 34 shots from outside the paint, and only hit nine (26.5 per cent), including 2-of-11 on 3-pointers. In contrast, the Bulls hit 46.7 per cent from outside. "They hit shots, especially in the fourth quarter, and they picked up their intensity on defence," Loyer said. "We didnt match that, and when you do that against a playoff team, you areent going to win many games.dddddddddddd" Detroit led for most of the second quarter, but appeared to get rattled by an officials decision. Smith was driving for a layup that would have made it 43-34, but the shot was blocked by Mike Dunleavy. Smith didnt get back on defence, staying near the basket to argue the call, and Jimmy Butler got an easy alley-oop dunk at the other end. Smith was then called for a technical, and Augustin hit the free throw to make it a four-point game. Chicago scored the next four points to tie the game, and a technical called on Loyer with 3.7 seconds left in the half helped the Bulls take a 52-47 lead at the intermission. The Pistons narrowed the gap to 71-70 in the third quarter, but Augustin and Gibson kept scoring off the bench to help Chicago stay in front. Augustins three-point play early in the fourth keyed an 11-2 run to start the period, putting the Bulls up by 10. "We talk about how we want to finish games, and we were real strong coming out for the fourth," Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Our defence was strong, and our ball movement was good. Hitting the open guy makes a big difference." Augustin wasnt finished, either. His 3-pointer gave the Bulls a 15-point lead with six minutes to go, and the Pistons never threatened down the stretch. "They just outplayed us in the fourth quarter," Andre Drummond said. "They are a very disciplined team that prides itself on defence. We hung with them for three quarters, but they ran their offence in the fourth quarter and outexecuted us." NOTES: Loyers technical at the end of the first was called in a highly unusual manner. Loyer was discussing a call with official Olandis Poole, who showed no indication of calling anything, but John Goble rang him up from 30 feet away. ... Gibson and Brandon Jennings picked up technicals arguing calls in the second half. Gibson left the game with 3:39 to play after rolling his right ankle, but returned moments later. ... IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was honoured during the first half as part of a promotion for the Detroit Grand Prix. 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