It may be premature to determine if the Suns current resurgence is simply false hope, however Grant Hill's seems to be anything but.
Hill is trying to carry on his scoring momentum while assisting the visiting Suns pickup a high for the year 5th consecutive overall & 9th consecutive against the Wizards on Friday evening.
Hill had been among many Suns that had difficulties following the deal that acquired Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus & Marcin Gortat the previous month, with the squad losing 7 of the 1st 9 with their new rotation.
Hill put in 11.4 points, 3.6 beneath his average for the year, & 43.2 % from the floor during the 1st 8 matchups of that span prior to spraining his knee January. 9.
He skipped the following 2 matchups, however the NBA's 3rd oldest active player has seemed rejuvenated since Coming back. Hill posted twenty-one points during a 115 - 111 victory against Portland previous Friday, put in 25 during a 129 - 121 win at Madison Square Garden vs. the Knicks on Monday & got twenty-seven points & twelve boards as the Suns defeated the Cavs 106 - 98 on Wednesday.
Hill had not put in more than twenty points in 3 straight contests since December 16th to 22nd, 2006, with the Magic. The last occasion he topped the twenty point mark within 4 consecutive had been March 19th to 26th, 2005. Hill has put in 9.0 points during his previous 5 matchups versus Washington ( 12 - 28 ), however that has not hurt the Suns ( 19 - 21 ). They have picked up the previous 8 games by an average of 17.6 points, putting in 117.0 per game while throwing up 53.0 %.
Hakim Warrick got twenty-six points as Steve Nash put in twenty points & 17 dishes during a 125 - 108 home court victory against Washington on December 5, however Washington getting throttled away from home is nothing new. The Wizards dropped to 0 - 20 on the road Wednesday having a 100 - 87 defeat at the Bradley Center vs. the Bucks.
Mainly, they do not play defense. Washington permits 108.4 Points per game away from home in comparison to 96.4 on their home court, where they have kept 7 of their previous 9 competitors to less than 100.
The Wizards have picked up 4 consecutive at the Verizon Center & have gotten the job done against below.500 competitors. They are 10 - 2 on their home court versus clubs that presently have below.500 records. The most important factor for Washington's home court success has been Nick Young. Since coming into the starting 5 the evening of the deal that despatched Gilbert Arenas to the Magic, Young has put in 26.1 points on their home court in comparison to 14.3 away from home.
Young has put in 20.0 points during his previous 2 matchups against Phoenix, each of which were at US Airways Center. Wall got twelve points & 12 assists versus the Suns the previous month. The Wizards are 4 - 15 when Wall puts in eighteen points or less & 5 - 4 when he's 19 or more.