TNT 6PM AZ Time

Phoenix Suns (19-7)

PG Steve Nash SG Raja Bell SF Shawn Marion PF Boris Diaw C Amare Stoudemire

Dallas Mavericks (21-7)

PG Jason Terry SG Devin Harris SF Josh Howard PF Dirk Nowitzki C Erick Dampier

The two hottest teams in the Western Conference collide today(both have combined to win 39 of their last 45 games). The last two seasons these teams have had some great games against each other, especially in the playoffs. This game, for both teams, is a good measuring stick to see where they are at right now. This game should be an important one for Amare Stoudemire who thought that his presence in last year’s playoffs would have made a difference. And after coming off the bench in his last game against the Mavericks, right now as the starter he wants to prove to the TNT audience that he is back. He will face a tough challenge today against Desagana Diop. Two years ago when he destroyed the Mavs in the paint they didn’t have a more athletic big man like Diop who will have a much easier time than Dampier at staying with Amare.

Key Players

Boris Diaw

Diaw had a great playoffs last year, especially against the Mavericks. He was playing the best basketball of his career and after a slow start he’s gone back to that and has been more aggressive on offense like he was at the end of last season. In the playoffs, he was our Amare in the post, causing mismatches with big men using his quickness and great passing ability to get the team some easy points. Now that Amare is back that puts him in a better position. While the Dallas defense focuses on Amare, Diaw has to take advantage of the much slower Dampier or whoever else defends him. He should have a pretty good game.

Josh Howard

The Mavericks right now are averaging 13 points less per game than the Suns and they’ll need their 2nd option on offense to have a good game if they want to keep up. Howard is a very good all-around player and they’ll need him to score 20+ points in this game so Dirk doesn’t have to do everything. Shawn Marion needs to do a better job of containing him than he did in the playoffs last year. Howard also needs to do a good job defending Marion because the Suns have more than enough offensive weapons.

Prediction
I don’t really see either team with a huge advantage. These teams are evenly matched and it will be an awesome game on TNT. The Mavericks are on a 7-game win streak right now and they are at home so I will go with them, doing so has almost always given the Suns the win so why ruin a good thing , but if both Diaw and Amare have good games and the Suns stay close in rebounding then they will take it.

Mavericks 110 Suns 105

The TrailBlazers must hate coming to Phoenix. They had lost their last five games at U.S. Airways by an average of 23.5 points per game and this one sure wasn’t pretty. The Blazers starting five outscored the Suns’ bench by only one point. The Suns had a lot of energy last night and their defense was pretty good. They held Portland to 32 first half points and the Blazers needed the Suns to empty out their bench to get some offense going to reach 87 points by the end of the game.

Jumaine Jones was impressive. He gave a lot of effort on D and got some rebounds. He also made 3-5 three pointers. I think he solidified his spot in the rotation with that performance. Most of the bench players had a chance to play. Marks looked pretty bad, but with the Suns’ last possession he threw down a monster dunk. Banks looked better than usual with three assists and making his only 3-point attempt, but only played three minutes.

Marion was definitely the player of the game last night. He was 10-16 from the field for 23 points and got two steals and blocks. He also got 8 rebounds and he had some amazing fastbreak dunks.

After losing to Washington and ending their winning streak, the Suns enjoyed their break and came back on fire. They seem very ready to start a new and even longer one to take control of the West.

The Suns have been playing great, but I still think they really need to find an 8th man. Jalen Rose has just been okay at times and neither James Jones nor Marcus Banks has done much at all. During the off-season I was really excited about this Jumaine Jones signing. The man is a proven player who can play good defense and score a little bit for us. Even though he had only one good 3-point shooting season he definitely should be able to do better than what James Jones has done so far, especially in an offense like this were scoring is a little easier for everyone. The Suns need someone like that to round out the rotation. Yesterday in his short time on the court he played some solid defense, knocked down a shot and I just think it would be in the Suns’ best interest to be playing him. Early in the season he had an ankle injury, but he is healthy now and should be playing more now. I can see him being a big time contributor off the bench for this team. I don’t think Phoenix can win it all this year without getting an 8th man. Injuries have hurt them in the playoffs so we need another guy to come in who could match the defense played by Raja Bell or Marion if they get hurt and we need someone else who can shoot the three. Last night’s poor performance behind the line showed that we need a fourth shooter because a big part of this team is the shooting. Hopefully D’Antoni gives JJ2 more opportunities to play.

After traveling for six hours straight the Suns just weren’t the same yesterday. They couldn’t run or shoot the way they usually do, but it really impressed me how they came back after two large deficits throughout the game and took control briefly in the 4th quarter. The Wizards were just the better team tonight though. Arenas got his revenge against D’Antoni with 54 points and some huge shots that just killed the Suns. Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison also combined for 49 in a pretty good game by their outstanding trio.

For the Suns, Amare Stoudemire was not a factor early but then came in the game in the 4th and played great. His unbelievable dunk near the end of regulation should have finished the Wizards off if not for some more heroics by Arenas. Stoudemire, Diaw and Marion played great D down the stretch to bring the Suns back and give them the lead. They had 5 blocks together and it looked like they all came in that quarter. A great effort by all of them. Marion really helped the team with a few shots while they were struggling and Diaw had a great all-around game. Nash put up yet another MVP performance shooting 56% from the floor for 42 points and he also got 12 assists. I don’t see how he won’t win three MVP’s in a row with performances like that.

Kurt Thomas and Barbosa were great off the bench as usual. Even with the great play from most of these guys the Suns only shot 30% from 3-point land and took 43 3-pointers, while Washington took 19 and shot them at over 50%. That was the difference in the game. The Wizards just scored more efficiently. This was one of the better games to watch this year. It had me excited like I was watching a playoff game. It’s unfortunate the outcome was what it was. I’m sure that the Suns will be ready to start another winning streak Tuesday at home vs. the Blazers.

		Phoenix Suns 13-6, 2nd Pacific

			Orlando Magic 15-7, 1st Southeast

After facing bad team after bad team to boost their record after a tough start, the Suns finally get a chance to show how good the are. Tonight they face the top team in the Eastern Conference, 15-7 Orlando, on the road. It will be a tough match-up. The Magic have some great talent on their team, led by the amazing Dwight Howard and a finally healthy Grant Hill.

The focus of this game will of course be on the match-up of the two young studs at center, Howard and Stoudemire. Two years ago, Stoudemire was quickly becoming one of the best big men in the league. Then came the micro-fracture and over a year and a half of recovery time which set him back while Dwight, himself, was starting to make a name for himself. Now Amare is back and is starting to look like the old Amare on offense with an improved defensive game. His recovery went quicker than anyone expected and now he is ready to take on Howard in what should be a great one-on-one battle. Howard has the advantage in rebounding but during this winning streak, Amare has put up 22-12 regularly and will be the toughest challenge that Howard has had this season.

“Dirty” has quickly become one of my favorite players that I have ever seen play for the Suns. Sure, his numbers are nothing to brag about, his minutes have gone down and he is on the decline, but his importance to the Suns has really been overlooked. Last year, without him, the Suns defense went from only allowing opponents to shoot 44% to letting them shoot at 49% and score seven points more per game. The team also went from being on pace to reach 60 wins to just playing little better than .500 ball with easily the worst defense in the league in the time that Kurt Thomas missed.

The trade talks during the off-season infuriated me because I knew he would be an important part of this team this season, especially during the playoffs. He has really showed his value so far. Even in reduced minutes he is contributing. His FG% is in the 60’s. He makes smart shots and has one of the most consistent mid-range jumpers I have seen. Also, unlike most big men he doesn’t make too many mistakes with the ball (only averages 0.7 turnovers in 23 minutes). His defense and rebounding has been very good. He’s not as tall as some centers and can not jump as high as some other big men but he gets great position for rebounds. He boxes out and fights for boards which is how he got 11 against a Rockets team with Yao Ming at center. He is also not very fast but if you look at how he defends Yao, Duncan or Shaq, he plays smart, always stays in front of them and contests every single shot. You could see how Yao struggled to score on him even with a nine inch height difference.

The biggest reason why he is such a key part of this team is because of what he is doing with Amare. It was Stoudemire who asked for him to come here and they have been a good duo in the front court. The Suns’ rebounding troubles are gone when those two are on the floor. Thomas has also become a pretty good teacher for Amare. He is a big part of why Amare’s rebounding and defense has improved so much since the 2004-’05 season. Amare had so much athleticism and is a big guy and yet was only averaging nine rebounds a game and his defense was embarrassing. But now you see a much smarter Amare out there and I give credit to Thomas for that.

I hate to see Thomas’ contributions ignored by everybody. He brings the once soft Suns some toughness. They used to be pushed around by everyone down low but not anymore. Thomas’ glare is enough to make any man run and hide.