Previous week’s games
2/19/10 SUNS 88, Hawks 80
2/21/10 SUNS 104, Kings 88
2/23/10 SUNS 104, Thunder 102
2/24/10 SUNS 106, 76ers 95
Upcoming week’s games
2/26/10 SUNS vs Clippers, 7 p.m., Fox Sports Arizona
2/28/10 SUNS @ Spurs, 11 a.m., ABC
3/01/10 SUNS vs Nuggets, 7 p.m., Fox Sports Arizona
3/03/10 SUNS @ Clippers, 8:30 p.m., Fox Sports Arizona
Despite losing Steve Nash for a game, the Suns prevailed this week.
The Phoenix Suns have won some big games this year — on the road in Boston over the Celtics on the first road trip of the season, and at home against the heavily hated Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs — but none were quite as big as Tuesday’s victory. On Tuesday, the Suns did something they’ve rarely done in the last five-plus years: Win a game without two-time MVP point guard Steve Nash. Two nights ago, the Suns not only won without Nash, but they also did so on the road against the surging Oklahoma City Thunder, who happened to be the hottest team in the NBA at the time, winning nine straight contests. While you can make an argument for some of the Suns’ early victories, none was as important as this one. Just ask head coach Alvin Gentry.
“It’s our best win of the year, by far, I think. Especially playing without Steve. To come in here and be able to beat this team without Steve, it’s a heck of an accomplishment. It’s a big plus for our guys,” Gentry said.
This win was huge for multiple reasons, the most obvious being the fact that it was a victory against a Western Conference foe that’s right in the middle of the tight playoff hunt. All wins become extra important this time of year, especially when they come against teams the Suns are battling for playoff positions. The victory over the Thunder propelled the Suns from sixth in the standings to fifth, which pulls them closer to gaining home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Secondly, this victory prevented losing the season series to Oklahoma City. The Suns and Thunder only meet three times his year. Since the Suns dropped the first meeting in Phoenix, OKC had the chance to clinch the season series by picking up the victory the other night. With things so bunched up in the West this year, winning a season series against a team is more important than ever. It would be no surprise if multiple teams finish the season with even records, so winning a season series could be crucial to playoff seeding. With their victory in Oklahoma, the Suns now have the chance win the season series when the two teams meet for the final time later this year in Phoenix.
While playoff positioning and tiebreakers are important, nothing is as important as knowing this team can win a game without Steve Nash, and do so on the road against a very good basketball team in the Kevin Durant-led Thunder. The confidence of the Suns has to be at a season high after this game, as the Suns did something they rarely do in winning without Nash. They did so with a total team effort as everyone stepped up. Goran Dragic did a solid job stepping into the starting job and picking up career highs in assists (10) and minutes (40). Amar’e Stoudemire continued his current beastly streak by netting 30 points, and Jason Richardson continued to show he is capable of being the difference for Phoenix. Richardson scored the last four points Tuesday, including the go-ahead floater, making the Suns 17-2 (18-2 after last night’s victory over Philadelphia) when he scores at least 20.
The Oklahoma City game may easily the biggest win of the year for the Suns, however with 20-plus games to go, let’s hope this is just one of many big wins down the stretch.
