Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Read More: Alvin Gentry (H – PHO), Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns didn’t make it easy on themselves but a strong showing from the second unit to start the fourth quarter gave them the separation needed to get a victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Bobcats pushed their halftime lead to ten points early in the third quarter before Alvin Gentry called a time out. From that point on the Suns had the game tied at the end of three and were up 10 halfway through the fourth quarter.

The hero of the night was Robin Lopez who scored 13 points to go along with six rebounds and solid defense in his 19 minutes of play. Josh Childress was strong as well as the bench was able to allow Steve Nash to rest until the four minute mark.

“The major problem was when Lopez came in,” Bobcats coach Paul Silas said, “We didn’t box him out and it really just changed the whole game around.”

The Suns held the Bobcats to and just 17 points in the fourth quarter with about half of those coming in the final desperate minutes. Phoenix was led by Michael Redd who got the start in place of the injured Jared Dudley. Redd finished with 17 points on 6-12 shooting. Rookie point guard Kemba Walker had 22 points for Charlotte.

The much-needed home win gives the Suns a 9-14 record on the season while the Bobcats fall to 3-21. The Suns now travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Monday and then to Milwaukee to meet the Bucks on Tuesday.

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The Phoenix Suns are 6-11 having just lost their third-straight home game to a team with a record even worse than their own. They had a lead on the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night before the energy gave out and the game slipped away in the third quarter. Just another tough loss in a season with too many of them already.

Steve Nash pointed out the obvious, saying, “We just don’t have the talent to go out there and win games. We’ve got to find a little bit something extra; we’ve got to find a little magic and our chemistry and cohesion and we haven’t found it yet.”

Nash also admitted that it’s difficult to build chemistry when you are losing games. It’s a Catch-22.

So what do you do?

“You got to just keep your head down and keep working and keep believing and if you do that long enough, good things will happen,” Nash explained.

Coach Gentry had a similar response in his postgame comments, vowing to never give up the fight.

“There’s nobody that’s going to quit. We’re not going to let anybody quit and we’ll continue to try to figure it out and we’ll continue to try and turn our season around. No one’s going to throw in the towel, I know that. I’m not going to allow that.”

So there you have it. Your Phoenix Suns. Not enough talent to just win games without a little magic but refusing to quit.

It’s good to hear that players and coaches making millions and millions of dollars to play a game won’t be quiting anytime soon…as for the rest of us, when does Spring Training start?

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Not much else going on in the NBA world today.

Read More: Andrea Bargnani (F – TOR), Markieff Morris (F – PHO), Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Raptors at Phoenix Suns, Jan 24, 2012 7:00 PM MST

The Phoenix Suns really needed to get a home win against a 4-13 Toronto Raptors team. Second of a back-to-back coming off a five-game road trip or not, this was a game the Suns needed and blew thanks mostly to another horrible third quarter (see also Dallas, game, loss). The final score in the miserable affair was 99-96 and dropped the Suns to 6-11 on the season.

The Suns took a four-point lead into the second half thanks to 53 percent shooting show and capable defense against one of the league’s worst offensive teams. Then things fell apart and fast as the Suns gave up 18 points to Andrea Bargnani in the third quarter with the skilled Italian put another page rookie Markieff Morris’ “NBA Defense” lesson book.

The energy and chemistry was horrific at the end of the third and start of the fourth until Alvin Gentry called a timeout and threatened, cajoled or otherwise motivated the Suns into showing signs of life. The push cut into a 12-point Raptors lead with the Suns finally showing the kind of fight they needed to have for the entire 48 minutes.

Things got a little interesting in the final minute when Jared Dudley (finally) hit a three to cut the Raptors lead to four and then stole an inbound pass and dunked the ball to cut the margin only two points with 23 seconds on the clock.

But Bargnani made his two free throws after being intentionally fouled and Nash missed a fairly open layup to end the Suns’ chances of a miracle comeback in a game they didn’t deserve to win.

Steve Nash finished with 17 points and 14 assists and Marcin Gortat had his ninth-straight double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Bargnani scored 36 points in his first game back after missing the last five due to injury. Leandro Barbosa added 19 against his old team.

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Marcin Gortat scored 24 points, one shy of his career high to pace the Phoenix Suns to a 79-71 win at TD Garden. Gortat recorded 14 of his 24 points in the first quarter and collected 12 rebounds to register his seventh straight double-double.

The loss is the first for Boston against a team with a losing record; and have now lost four of their past five contests against the Suns. Boston’s 71 points represents a season low output for a Celtics squad that continues to have difficulty putting points on the board. Against one of the NBAs weaker defensive teams, the Celtics continue to struggle in the first quarter where the team scored just 15 points and 35 for the half.

The opening quarter struggles that have become customary for the 2011-12 seasons surfaced again; as the team shot a dismal 37% from the floor leading to 15 points. The low scoring output placed Boston in an all too familiar position; falling behind early and trailing for the majority of the contest. The main failing of the Celtics, and the area where Rondo’s absence was felt most was in the team’s inability to get to the basket; which was best represented in the team’s paltry two free throw attempts in the first half.

At the half, the Celtics trailed 46-35; shooting just 36% from the floor compared to 50% for the Suns.The third quarter would again provide Boston’s best output; as the Celtics would outscore the Suns 18-4 to gain a brief 53-50 lead. As soon as the lead would be gained, it would be quickly surrendered as Phoenix would close the quarter on a 8-0 run to regain a lead they would no surrender. Relatively a non-factor in the first half, perennial all-star Steve Nash came to life in the second half; as the 37 year old would control the tempo and overcome the early defensive harassment by Avery Bradley.

The Celtics would not score a point for a span of over seven minuted through the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth as the Suns put the game away with timely three point baskets in the game’s closing minutes.

Playing at a level of a player several years his junior, the 16 year veteran entered play on Friday as the NBAs assist leader with 10.1 per game while shooting a career best 55.2% from the floor. For the game, Nash would finish with 11 points, five rebounds and nine assists. During the first half, Nash seemed content setting up teammates for scoring chances and only looked to score when the situation called for it in the second half.

Rajon Rondo missed the game on Friday with a wrist sprain suffered in Wednesday night’s win against the Toronto Raptors. In his place, second year guard Bradley got the start and played solidly; applying constant ball pressure on Steve Nash while chipping in with 10 points four rebounds and three steals in the loss.

The Celtics loss comes at a time when local and national speculation centered on whether the team would be disassembled by team president Danny Ainge. In a recent article, I had indicated that the window of opportunity for the current Celtics team is rapidly closing and the time left for the current squad to prove their worth is very short; with Friday’s loss as another example of how this team lacks the offensive punch and athleticism to contend with the league’s best teams. The absence of Rondo had some impact on Friday’s outcome but he remaining players’ inability or lack of desire to attack the basket further demonstrates the team’s lack of urgency.

The Celtics travel to Washington for a Sunday afternoon tilt before playing back-to-back home and away contests against the Orlando Magic. After this week it will be clear whether this team has what it takes to not only contend on a nightly basis, but also regain their place among the Eastern Conference’s elite teams. Based on Friday’s performance, there is diminishing hope that the latter is still a possibility.

Scott Duhaime is a passionate fan of the Boston Celtics and avid follower of the NBA for over 30 years. His professional career includes a solid foundation of analytics that contributes to a better appreciation of player and team contributions.

Sources:

Yahoo! Sports NBA Standings and Team Statistics

Yahoo! Sports Boston Celtics Roster, Schedule and Statistics

Yahoo! Sports article: Has the Time Come to Break Up the Celtics? A Fan’s Take

Yahoo! Sports Box Score: Phoenix Suns 79 @ Boston Celtics 71

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

What do you guys think about this.

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce (34) drives past Phoenix Suns’ Markieff Morris (11) in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Boston on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012.

What are your opinions.

Credit: AP

Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash, right, drives on Golden State Warriors small forward Dominic McGuire during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

There is the quick update of the day.

That’s all the news for today.

Michael Redd has come to the Phoenix Suns in a bid to revive a career derailed by injury, something he knows Grant Hill accomplished before him.

The 6-foot-6, 32-year-old sharpshooting guard signed a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum of about $1.3 million.

Redd left the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of last season, the final year of his six-year, $91 million contract he signed with the Bucks in 2005. Injuries to his left knee cost him most of the last three seasons. Redd played in 33 games in 2008-09, 18 games in 2009-10 and 10 games in 2010-11.

“We came out and worked out on Tuesday,” Redd said after the Suns practiced Thursday. “It went well. They wanted to see how I moved, if I still had some juice in the tank. I came out and performed and yesterday we made it happen.”

He averaged 20 points in 11 seasons, all with the Bucks. A 38 percent 3-point shooter for his career, Redd’s best season came in 2006-07, when he averaged 26.7 points per game.

“I want to play at the elite level that I’m accustomed to playing at,” he said. “I asked all the doctors after this last surgery, ‘Can I play at the level that I’m accustomed to playing at?’ and they said ‘Yeah,’ so that’s the goal.”

He said “more than anything” he wants to “have fun and play without pain.”

The Suns’ training staff has a reputation for having success in working with players who have dealt with injury, with the 39-year-old Hill the prime example.

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“That was big,” Redd said. “That was one of the things that really drew me to this organization was the fact that they have an incredible medical staff. I wanted to be a part of that to get better, but I feel great “

He said Hill talked to him and said that if he came to Phoenix, he could get back the years that he’s lost to injury.

“I’ve seen his career rebirthed and hopefully the same can happen to me,” Redd said.

Redd said he took off 14 months between his latest surgery and his return to the Bucks in April. By the time his legs began to feel in NBA shape, the season was over.

“When you go through something like this, it wears on you mentally more than anything,” Redd said, “so I just want to get the mind right and obviously the body right.”

He wasn’t sure when he would be able to play in a game, but is working to get in shape to keep up with Steve Nash and the rest of the offense.

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Read More: nba free agents 2011, Michael Redd (G – PHO), Jared Dudley (G – PHO), Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are getting off to a pretty slow start in the 2011-12 NBA season. And they look particularly weak in the shooting guard position. Jared Dudley is a solid enough bench player, but he can’t be a starter and expect to put up big numbers and sustain that type of effort for an entire season. Shannon Brown has had a disastrous start, and has a lot of work to do if he plans on logging big minutes anytime soon.

So Phoenix went into the well and worked out former All-Star Michael Redd, and it looks like they’re ready to sign him. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic has more.

Michael Redd, who has a scary knee history, worked out for the Suns at US Airways Center on Tuesday, and the Suns are expected to sign the 32-year-old today to address their need for scoring and shooting.

Redd likely would not play immediately as he learns the Suns’ system and works into playing shape.

To discuss the possibility of Redd and the Suns, go to Bright Side of the Sun.

That’s all the news for today.

Read More: Michael Redd (G – MIL), Ime Udoka (F – NJN), Gilbert Brown (G – BOS), Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns

According to AZCentral.com’s Paul Coro, the Phoenix Suns worked out veteran SG Michael Redd on Tuesday, trying to bolster their bench with a veteran guard with a resume as a shotmaker.

The 32-year old Redd worked out at US Airways Center with free agent veteran Ime Udoka and free agent Gilbert Brown, though Coro feels Redd is the most appealing to the Suns.

Phoenix made sure to do their due diligence on Redd’s left knee, having it examined by team doctors on Tuesday as well due to his extensive history of problems with it. The former All-Star has played in a meager 61 games over the past three years along with two season-ending knee surgeries; Redd tore his ACL and MCL back in January of 2009 and once more a year later.

In the 10 games he did play in last year, Redd scored 4.4 points in 13.4 minutes for the Milwaukee Bucks. Luckily the Suns are known around the league to have a top notch medical staff who have lots of knowledge of dealing with aging stars such as Steve Nash, Grant Hill, and Shaquille O’Neal. Maybe Redd can reinvigorate himself in the desert as well.

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That’s all the news for today.

Read More: Hakim Warrick (F – PHO), Steve Nash (G – PHO), Robin Lopez (C – PHO), Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns played a much better half of basketball on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets than they did on Tuesday. After trailing 26-16 after the first quarter the Suns outscored the Nuggets 34-26 in the second quarter to finish the first half down 52-50.

You don’t want to read too much into it, preseason rotations and all, but the Suns cleaned up a lot of their issues from Tuesday night and finished the half minus-one in both total rebounds (24-23) and turnovers (9-8). Phoenix held Denver to 41 percent shooting from the field but still gave up 24 points in the paint. 

Hakim Warrick continues to make a case for more playing time. His outside shot is still falling and his work in the post earned him numerous trips to the line. He led the Suns at the half with 13 points on 4-7 shooting and 5-8 from the line.

Robin Lopez started off the game very active with a block of Timofey Mozgov on the first possession and then an offensive rebound on the other end. His activity on the glass drew two fouls and he recorded 3 points, 2 rebounds and a block in just 3:34 of action before being replaced by Markieff Morris. Lopez didn’t put up big numbers but was a defensive presence with solid rotations and good post defense.

The rookie Markieff Morris was very impressive on both ends of the floor although his on-ball defense is definitely a work in progress. He showed no hesitation looking for his offense and led the team in first quarter shot attempts with six attempted and three made. He drew fouls and recorded 4 rebounds and 3 blocks in his 11 minutes.

Ronnie Price was the first guard in off the bench for Steve Nash and while he didn’t make mistakes, the Nuggets lead ballooned from 3 to 10 in just two minutes with Nash on the bench. Things picked up in the second quarter and the deficit was back down to four when Nash checked in with six minutes left in the half.

With Nash on the bench, the Suns either ran the ball through the post with Warrick getting several touches and handling them well. If Phoenix did run pick and roll, Shannon Brown was the ball handler instead of Price.

In the second quarter with the starters back in, Phoenix mixed up the point of attack nicely and definitely had a nice flow going with Jared Dudley and Grant Hill on the floor together with Nash, Warrick and Lopez. 

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Gotta run!.

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have waived swingman Mickael Pietrus after reaching a financial agreement.

The move was announced by the team Thursday and lowered Phoenix’s roster to 14 players.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Read More: Elston Turner (A – HOU), Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns opened their 2011 NBA preseason campaign with a road loss to the Denver Nuggets by the depressing score of 127-110. We were warned that the new emphasis on defense would take some time to show results as the team adjusts to a whole new scheme installed by “defensive coordinator” Elston Turner.

Offensively, the Suns struggled with turnovers which was one of the things coach Gentry warned about recently, “We’ve got to make sure we’re not turning the ball over. That becomes really important because when we do, obviously it makes the field goal percentage go up dramatically when you’re (giving up) layups.”

That’s exactly what happened in the first half of this game as the Suns turned the ball over 12 times leaded to 11 Denver points. Four of those fumbles were credited to backup point guard Sebastian Telfair in just under six minutes of play in the first quarter.

The Suns finished the game with 16 turnovers but that’s still four fewer than Denver. Neither team shot the ball well from three (6-24 for the Suns, 7-22 for Denver) but the Nuggets shot almost 53 percent for the game which was the difference. 

Denver point guard Ty Lawson led all scorers with 21 points while the Suns got 14 each from Marcin Gortat and Hakim Warrick. Warrick continued his hot shooting that he’s shown all training camp going 7-11. Suns rookie Markieff Morris played 27 minutes with 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out.

The Suns will face the same Denver team on Thursday in their second and final preseason game.

For more on the Suns, visit Bright Side of the Sun.

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That’s all for today.