Gortat has rare bad game in loss to T-Wolves
Mar 13, 2012, 3:56 PM | Updated: 5:54 pm
Marcin Gortat has been a model of consistency this year
for the Phoenix Suns.
The Polish center has 24 double-doubles, and is one of
only seven players in the NBA currently averaging over 15
points and 10 rebounds per game.
But Gortat had arguably his least-effective game Monday in
a 127-124 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at US Airways
Center.
Gortat was limited to just 20 minutes (his third-lowest
total of the year) because of foul trouble and finished
with only 8 points and 4 rebounds as the Suns lost their
first home game since February 22.
“Definitely a tough game, I just wasn’t ready to play, I
guess,” Gortat said.
The Suns’ center got into early foul trouble, picking up
two personals in the first 6:05 of the contest, and then
picked up a third after returning to the game in the 2nd
quarter. In all, Gortat played just 8:08 of the first
half, and never seemed to get into the flow of the game.
In a sequence that summed up Gortat’s evening, he missed
two free throws with 12 seconds left that could have cut
Minnesota’s lead to one point. Then, with just .4 seconds
remaining, Gorat made a meaningless 22-foot jumper for the
final points of the game.
“It was just ridiculous, you miss two free throws and then
you make a three, it’s just ridiculous,” he said. “I
can’t explain that, it’s just bad. It’s not even funny,
it’s just bad.”
With Gortat spending a good portion of the game wearing
sweats, the Suns’ defense struggled as well. Minnesota
scored a season-high 127 points while blistering the nets
at a 56% clip for the game.
“Well, they have the best power forward in the league,”
Gortat said. “Kevin Love is just a tremendous player.
“There were many reasons why we lost that game. I don’t
think we can blame one guy who was defending [Love], it
was the effort of the whole team. Nikola Pekovic had
twenty or something points, and we did not stop him…I
did not stop him.”
Gortat will try to bounce back from a rare clunker as the
Suns host the Utah Jazz Wednesday night in downtown
Phoenix.
Arizona Sports’ Craig Grialou contributed to this
report
