Redd’s outburst help Suns to 4th straight win
Mar 19, 2012, 1:04 PM | Updated: 2:08 pm
Scoring 25 points in an NBA game is a big deal for some.
It’s not for Michael Redd.
The veteran sharpshooter has topped that mark 190 times in
his NBA career. He’s averaged over 25 points per game for
two full NBA seasons.
But Redd did something Sunday night that even he hasn’t
done before: he scored 25 points in only 18:31 minutes of
playing time off the bench in the Phoenix Suns’ 99-86 win
over the Houston Rockets at US Airways Center.
Redd hit 10 of his 13 shots, including 3 of 5 from behind
the three-point stripe. In one 5:13 stretch of the second
quarter, Redd scored 14 straight points for the Suns,
displaying a variety of shots from his vast repertoire.
“I’m just having fun and just no expectations, I go out
and play and see what happens,” Redd said. “Tonight is
just happened to be a night of scoring. Some nights, it
may be distributing. Whatever the team needs, I’m able to
do.”
But just how rare was Redd’s offensive explosion?
According to Basketball-Reference.com, Redd is the only
player in the NBA this season to score 25 or more points
in 19 or less minutes on the court. In fact, it’s only
been accomplished 3 times since 2000; C.J. Miles of the
Utah Jazz scored 26 points in 19 minutes in a win over the
Chicago Bulls in 2010 and Suns’ fans may remember Marcus
Williams of New Jersey burning Phoenix for 27 points in 19
minutes back in November of 2006.
The last Suns’ player to accomplish the scoring feat was
the late Wayman Tisdale, who had 26 points in 19 minutes
in a win over the Denver Nuggets on December 29, 1995.
“That’s kind of the vintage Michael Redd of old, where he
gets on a roll and it gets really difficult to guard him,”
Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said. “That was good to see,
he played great.”
Redd and the Suns (23-22) notched their 4th straight win
and moved over the .500 mark for the first time since
March 25, 2011.
With the win, Phoenix now trails Houston by only a half
game for the 8th and final Western Conference playoff
spot. The Suns, however, must leave the friendly confines
of US Airways Center as they start a 4-game road trip in
Miami against LeBron James and the Heat Tuesday.
Phoenix will play 12 out of their next 15 games away from
home.
Arizona Sports’ Craig Grialou contributed to this
report
