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Suns' Stoudemire stands out vs. Blazers
Amare Stoudemire is setting himself apart from most NBA players. The Portland Trail Blazers saw that firsthand Sunday night.
"They didn't belong in the same game with him, even though they're NBA players," Quentin Richardson said.
He even took things a step further by comparing the 22-year-old forward to one of the NBA's greatest players.
"Amare Stoudemire looked like Wilt Chamberlain," Richardson said.
Stoudemire, who scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, shot 20-of-27 from the field and 10-of-17 from the foul line in amassing the highest point total by a Phoenix player since Tony Delk scored 53 against Sacramento in a 121-117 overtime loss Feb. 2, 2001.
Stoudemire's previous high was 38, against Minnesota in the 2002-2003 season and against New Orleans this season. In Suns' history, only Tom Chambers, with 60 and 56, and Delk have scored more than Stoudemire. Cliff Robinson also had 50.
"I told him (Stoudemire) that if he starts learning to make free throws, he could score 75," Richardson said, laughing. "You don't see anyone miss seven shots (from the field) and score 50."
Stoudemire said he once scored 68 points in an AAU game. Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni didn't think the points were coming that fast this time.
"I was surprised when Amare had 26 points at halftime," D'Antoni said. "I had no idea.
"He wasn't taking any bad shots or working really hard. Obviously, getting 50 points is hard to do."
Stoudemire (22 years, 47 days) is the sixth-youngest player in NBA history to score at least 50 and the youngest since Allen Iverson of Philadelphia, when he did it on April 12, 1997. Rick Barry was the youngest (21 days, 261 days) when he scored 57 on Dec. 14, 1965.
Stoudemire's 49th and 50th points came with 43.2 seconds remaining on a 15-foot turnaround jump shot.
As the ball slipped through the hoop, the crowd of 18,166 went wild. The fans had been urging the Suns to get the ball to Stoudemire in the closing minutes as he closed in on 50.
"I wasn't thinking about it," Stoudemire said. "I heard one of the fans say 46, and that's when I thought about it, but I wasn't pressing and trying to get 50 points. It just came to me in the flow of the game.
"When I hit 50 points, the crowd went crazy. Everyone in the stands was standing up giving their applause and I'm always grateful to see the fans appreciate a game like that.
"It feels great to do it at the young age of 22 ... That's the tip of the iceberg."
Stoudemire was sensational. He scored on a variety of shots — dunks, jumpers and power moves to the basket. "It wasn't all power, because a lot of moves were finesse out there," said Stoudemire, who also had 11 rebounds. "The power moves allow me to finesse it up and catch them off guard." The Suns have the NBA's best record at 26-4 and have won 22 of 24, including eight straight at home. Richardson added 20 points, capping a key fourth-quarter 12-2 burst with a 3-pointer, and Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson each scored 15 for the Suns. Darius Miles led Portland with 25 points, Zach Randolph had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Miles was among the many Portland players impressed by Stoudemire's awesome performance. "He just makes one move and he can go hard one way and jump over his defender," Miles said. Just like Stoudemire did Sunday night.
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