The Phoenix Suns are without Kevin Johnson (it seems like this was the case too often), Danny Manning (ditto) and Danny Ainge on this particular night. Charles Barkley arrives only 32 minutes before tip-off. By arriving I mean entering the arena in civilian clothes. So does that means he was dressed up 20 minutes before the game, at best? He carries a Phoenix Suns team (which is leading the league by the way) with Elliot Perry (cool player, but he’s no KJ) and Joe Kleine in the starting line-up in a close overtime game versus the struggling Golden State Warriors. His scoring in the 1st quarter is absolutely remarkable. February 17, 1995.
This is pretty much the season that started off the bad times in Oakland. Chris Webber had left during the summer, Don Nelson was just fired, Chris Mullin is struggling with injuries, Tom Gugliotta isn’t fitting in at all and the team is playing poorly. It doesn’t seem possible that the Golden State Warriors (who are 14-33) would get their new head coach Bob Lanier his first victory in Phoenix. Timmy and Spree thought differently and had one heck of a night - Hardaway, now relying more on his jumpshot after the surgery, knocks down 5 threes and hands out 19 assists (some of them pretty far-fetched though), while Latrell Sprewell brings that usual energy to make this a fun game to watch. You just got to love Spree’s confidence at 4:10.
Enjoy!
