The Suns’ playoff push turned into more of a shove Wednesday when Phoenix extended its season-high winning streak to six games with a 118-114 home victory over the talented Utah Jazz. Grant Hill turned back the clock as he scored eight of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, including a huge jumper with 31.5 seconds left to clinch the all-important W.
Hill was ubiquitous the entire game, but particularly so in the fourth period. Hill threw down an impressive flush on a fast break with 4:55 ticks left in the game and then followed it up on the next play with a crowd-pleasing block on Utah’s Carlos Boozer. After another block by Hill on Utah’s Paul Millsap with 2:46 left, Hill literally wrapped up the game in his hands with a huge defensive rebound with five seconds left.
“I’m just amazed by him,” Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry said. “He’s a just a big-time competitor and such a smart player. He really is playing like he’s 25 years-old.
“He still has so much of his athleticism left that we went to him at the end of the game and he made a big shot for us. I’m happy for him because he’s played in every single game we’ve had this year.”
What did the 36 year-old Hill attribute his stellar play towards?
“I watched the movie ‘Cocoon’ last week,” he said.