Cards prove tenacity in clutch road win
“Confidence” was certainly the buzzword du jour on Monday at the Cardinals’ practice facility. And after a cathartic 39-32 win over the Seattle Seahawks a night prior, one that pushed their lead in the NFC West to three games with seven to go, who could blame the Cardinals if their chests were puffed out a bit?
And this group was already a confident bunch.
“It reassures it,” coach Bruce Arians said. “You don’t lack any confidence for sure, but it reassures it when you go there and win. It just helps to build it. A win like that can lead to a really good week of practice, which leads to better weeks.”
Arizona (7-2) had been trying to get the Seattle monkey off its back for more than a year. The last time the two teams squared off with a healthy Carson Palmer in the mix was two years ago, when the Cardinals scratched out an ugly 1710 win. The Seahawks had the last laugh, going on to win the division and the Super Bowl.
Last season, Arizona started 9-1 and had a three-game lead on Seattle before going 2-4 in the final six games. Two losses in that span came at the hands of the Seahawks, who went unbeaten the final six weeks and made a second straight Super Bowl appearance.
Arizona certainly seems to be in the driver’s seat for the NFC West title, but Arians is making sure that confidence doesn’t become overconfidence.
“Right now, let’s just add ‘em up at the end,” he said. “Let’s stay in the moment to make sure those kind of things happen. You start talking about them too much, I think you start looking at the wrong goals.”
Still, there were plenty of reasons to smile. The Cardinals were good under pressure, with Palmer leading scoring drives of 83 and 80 yards to retake a comfortable 10-point lead after two turnovers had given the Seahawks a brief advantage. The defense harassed Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson into completing just 43.8 percent of his passes and held the Seahawks to just 343 offensive yards. Seattle went 1 of 8 on third down.
Arizona did cough up
See CARDS, Page 2C
The Suns’ 3-0 start to this four-game homestand was helped by an assist from the schedule-maker but the assist does not count without the finish.
The Suns have pounced on three consecutive visitors who played on the previous night while the Suns were resting at home.
The Suns wore down the Los Angeles Lakers, who left Kobe Bryant and their stamina at home Monday night to succumb to Brandon Knight’s first career triple-double in a 120-101 Suns victory at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
It has been alternating brilliance from the Suns guards of late – from game to game and within each game.
Point guard Eric Bledsoe scored 21 points for his career-best fifth consecutive 20-point game, and it became a footnote to how Knight starred just four nights after his career-high-tying 37-point game.
This time, Knight set a career high for assists with 15 and turned it into his first career triple-double
As expected, Arizona State lost senior safety Jordan Simone for the season.
In Saturday’s second quarter, Simone raced from the defensive backfield to stop Washington’s Marvin Hall, running down the sideline on a reverse. Simone made the tackle, but immediately grabbed his right leg.
Medical exams on Sunday revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
A former walk-on, Simone is ASU’s leading tackler. He’s also one of three team captains, joining senior quarterback Mike Bercovici and senior receiver D.J. Foster, his roommates. Simone’s voice was often the soundtrack of ASU’s practices. When the Sun Devils broke from the team huddle to go to position drills, he often led the charge.
“My heart goes out to him,” coach Todd Graham said. “Just a tremendous young man. Tremendous story. Walking on here, earn-
See ASU FOOTBALL, Page 8C
when he got a cue from the bench about what he needed.
A tiring Knight chased down a loose ball for his 10th rebound (his 1,000th career board) with 4:46 to go in the game, sending a towel-waving Bledsoe and other bench players into a celebration.
Knight finished with 30 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and four steals, joining Pete Maravich, Magic Johnson and Russell Westbrook as the only players to reach those numbers since steals became a statistic in 1973-74.
“You’re going to have some up-and-down nights,” said Knight, who entered this homestand off an eightturnover game.
“The most important thing is that our team is playing well. As long as our team is playing well, we’re going in the right direction. Individual things will take care of themselves.”
Knight made three of the Suns’ 11 3-pointers that helped counter how the Lakers shot near 50 percent
See SUNS, Page 3C
Islanders forward Steve Bernier celebrates his third-period goal
against Coyotes goalie Anders Lindback as defenseman Connor
Murphy looks on in New York’s victory at the Barclays Center in
Brooklyn on Monday night. Penalties, flat offense and defensive
lapses hurt Coyotes in road loss.