Previous week’s games
01/07/2011 Knicks 121, SUNS 96
01/09/2011 SUNS 108, Cavs 100
01/11/2011 Nuggets 132, SUNS 98
01/12/2011 SUNS 118, Nets 109
Upcoming week’s games
01/14/2011 SUNS vs Trailblazers, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
01/17/2011 SUNS @ Knicks, 11 a.m., My45
01/19/2011 SUNS @ Cavs, 5 p.m., My45
To say the Phoenix Suns have struggled this season would be a huge understatement. They’ve been pretty awful, and the team’s play has looked very uninspired at many times, especially in the last month or so. The team has been on life support for quite some time. I think they were even in a brief coma (see losses to the Clippers, 76ers and Kings).
Going into tonight’s matchup with the visiting Portland Trailblazers, the Suns are five games below .500 with a 16-21 record, currently three games in back of Portland for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. When you consider their play, being just three games out isn’t too bad, and certainly puts them within striking range to make a push for that final playoff spot. If Phoenix is going to make that push, it needs to happen now.
Vince Carter had a breakout game against the Nets earlier this week. Photo by Barry Gossage/Getty Images.
The Suns have reached a point where they need to decide if they’re going to move forward with what they have or finally do the unthinkable and move two-time MVP Steve Nash. I’m in the boat that says they should still stick with Nash.
Can the Suns compete for a championship? Absolutely not, but they can certainly get back into the playoff picture while playing an exciting brand of basketball. If the Suns can put together a streak of five wins in a row or seven out of eight, things would start looking a lot better on Planet Orange.
I know I’m going to get blasted for this, but Wednesday’s overtime win against the Nets could turn out to be the type of win that sparks a team. In the fourth quarter and OT, we saw something we haven’t seen from the Suns in a while. They showed fight. They played with passion. They finally had a bounce in their step.
Fans in attendance Wednesday night saw a change in the players in the latter portion of the game. Everyone at US Airways Center rose to their feet and chanted “defense” without having a PA announcer or a jumbo-tron tell them to do so. That never happens in Phoenix.
Vince Carter showed signs of life, making some big plays down the stretch. Goran Dragic shared time in the backcourt with Nash and his confidence immediately jumped. Jared Dudley continued to be in baller mode. And Nash, was well, Nash.
I’m not trying to make a big deal out of an overtime win against the lowly Nets. I’m not saying people should get too excited with this win. I’m just saying the Suns aren’t dead yet. Lets leave the plug in a little longer and see if Nash and company can be revived.
