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Source: http://www.charlotte.com/bobcats/story/478569.html
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That's where the Phoenix Suns were in the third quarter Monday. Zone defenses, by their nature, give up open outside shots. The Suns found those shots, made those shots and beat the Charlotte Bobcats 118-104 at US Airways Arena.
The Suns are 8-0 all-time against the Bobcats and Monday illustrated why: Phoenix has such a depth of talent that someone will always be hot. The Bobcats are shorthanded by comparison, which led to a gadget defense.
In order to play both his big men, Emeka Okafor and Nazr Mohammed, as starters, coach Sam Vincent spent most of the game in the zone. It worked OK in the first half, when the Bobcats shot well enough (53 percent) to compensate for what they gave up at the other end.
Then the bottom dropped out in the third quarter. The Suns shot 67 percent in that quarter, the Bobcats 39 percent, and a three-point Phoenix lead at halftime bloated to 15. Game over.
"The thing was to keep our bigs in the game with the zone," Vincent said. "Then, all of a sudden, they made some 3s. Give them a lot of credit; they figured it out."
In particular, Phoenix shooting guards Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa figured it out, shooting a combined 12-of-21 on 3s. Barbosa was effective throughout, finishing with 30 points. Bell rung it up in the third quarter, scoring 15 of his 24 points in that period.
Bell scored nine points in the first three minutes of the third quarter, on two 3-pointers and three free throws, created when Bobcats rookie Jared Dudley committed a shooting foul outside the arc.
Bell's barrage made it a nine-point lead early in the second half, and Phoenix never looked back, improving to 34-14, the best record in the Western Conference.
The Bobcats are 18-31, completing a 1-4 Western Conference road trip. They have three days off before hosting the New Jersey Nets on Friday and they need the rest; star forward Gerald Wallace missed his second straight game with a strained right foot and it's an open question when he will play again. Wallace wore a protective boot on his injured foot Monday.
Vincent said he plans to start Mohammed and Okafor the rest of the season, which likely means continuing to play zone.
| Charlotte | MIN | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | F | Pt |
| Dudley | 28:16 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Okafor | 41:23 | 7-15 | 4-6 | 2-13 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| Mohammed | 37:11 | 5-8 | 2-3 | 6-11 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| Richardson | 40:15 | 10-21 | 0-1 | 1-5 | 4 | 1 | 25 |
| Felton | 30:43 | 8-12 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 4 | 1 | 19 |
| Boykins | 17:17 | 2-5 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Anderson | 14:19 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Hollins | 12:30 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| McInnis | 13:10 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| Harrington | 4:56 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | 240 | 41-83 | 15-23 | 12-41 | 21 | 16 | 104 |
| Phoenix | MIN | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | F | Pt |
| Marion | 30:02 | 6-7 | 1-1 | 1-7 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| Hill | 32:33 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Stoudemire | 31:52 | 7-11 | 10-12 | 3-11 | 1 | 5 | 24 |
| Bell | 32:51 | 7-15 | 3-3 | 0-2 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
| Nash | 29:53 | 3-10 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| Barbosa | 26:29 | 11-17 | 3-3 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 30 |
| Diaw | 20:04 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Banks | 11:12 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Skinner | 16:12 | 3-3 | 1-2 | 1-6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Strawberry | 4:02 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Piatkowski | 2:30 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marks | 2:20 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 240 | 42-81 | 18-21 | 8-36 | 30 | 23 | 118 |
| Charlotte | 28 | 23 | 23 | 30 | -- | 104 |
| Phoenix | 31 | 23 | 33 | 31 | -- | 118 |
Officials--Joe Forte, Luis Grillo, Phil Robinson.
