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Stoudemire scored 49 to lift NBA Suns past Pacers
2008-11-06
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AFP) - Amare Stoudemire scored 49 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Wednesday to lift the Phoenix Suns past Indiana 113-103 and lift the Suns to 4-1 in the young National Basketball Association season. Stoudemire, who scored 14 points in the third quarter alone, made 17-of-21 shots from the field and 15-of-15 from the free throw line to seize command. "I wanted to dominate from the start," Stoudemire said. "It was up to me to dominate out there and get guys involved, especially defensively. I wanted to take it upon myself to give ourselves a spark. "I was able to do that and carry the load for the win." Frenchman Boris Diaw came off the bench to score 14 points while Brazilian Leandro Barbosa and Grant Hill each added 11 for the Suns, whose run of 14 points in a row in the third quarter set the stage for the victory. Stoudemire scored 27 points in the first half, sinking his first 11 shots from the floor, but finished one point shy of his career best, a 50-point performance against Portland in 2005. "He was unbelievable, maybe the best I've ever seen him play," Suns guard Steve Nash said of Stoudemire. "He got steals and passed the ball really well. He shot an unbelievable percentage from the field." Stoudemire also had six assists and five steals as his one-man showcase helped the Suns offset the Pacers shooting 61 percent in the first half. "Scoring, rebounding... he just played the total game," Suns coach Terry Porter said. "It's great to see him play that well. It's nice to have someone of that caliber to lean on when you need to. We needed every one of those 49 points." In the end, Stoudemire proved too much for Indiana to handle. "The story was Stoudemire," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "That was a terrific performance and we had no answers for him. We stood around in the third quarter and lost our rhythm because they were scoring buckets."
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