Trying to avenge a season opening loss to Portland, the Suns traveled back to the Rose Garden to face the Blazers.  Owning a 9 point lead in the fourth quarter, the Blazers overcame that deficit with Nicolas Batum leading the team to a 106-99 victory.  The loss for the Suns snapped a 3 game winning streak. 

The Suns trailed by as many as 12 points, but a second half surge sparked by Steve Nash gave them the lead to end the third.  He had 8 assists that period, finishing with 15 and 24 points.  In the fourth, Portland held its own and managed to find a run in them.  They were able to tie the game with a Batum layup, followed by LaMarcus Aldridge sinking in two freethrows to make it 91-89.  On the ensuing possession, Channing Frye fouled out going for a dunk, and the Suns lost a second chance to tie the game when Steve Nash missed a crucial layup.  The daggar came when Batum goes the distance from the assist by Brandon Roy to expand the lead to 7, putting the game out of reach. 

The Blazers were able to win without the help of Andre Miller.  Miller was suspended for ´´excessive and unnecessary contact´´ with Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin.  The suspension snapped his consecutive games streak at 632, which was the longest active streak in the NBA.  Three players though for Portland finished with 20 or more points.  Wesley Mathews had 24, while Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 each.  The Blazers were also able to make 32 of their 33 freethrows, and exploded in the fourth to use that in their advantage and scored 37 points in the process.  Grant Hill of the Suns earned himself 23 points with 8 rebounds , but it wasn’t enough as cold shooting in the fourth set them back. 

The Blazers Thursday have a date with the Orlando Magic, while the Suns host Memphis tomorrow.

Nobody is perfect really.  Except for Steve Nash.  Well, at least for tonight.

Nash finished a perfect 8 for 8 shooting, made all three of his fhreethrows, sank in 20 points and had a season high 17 assists.  The Suns also used that to come back down 10 early and rallied to take down the Wizards, 125-108.

As the Suns improve to 11-9 on the year, the Wizards fall to 6-13 and remain winless on the road in ten tries.  When talking about Nash and his skill, even at his age, Hakeem Warrick and company are glad to have someone as dedicated and poised every time someone like him steps onto the floor.

“He’s the reason I came here,” says Warrick. “It makes it easy playing with Steve. All you have to do is roll to the basket and he’ll find you.”

“When he’s feeling well, he’s as good as any point guard in the league,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “That was as efficient a game as you could have.”

Nash, who actually criticized the team about not making the playoffs this season, has seen a lot of help from his counterparts.  Last night, the Suns were able to produce 3 players with 20 or more points against Washington.  Jason Richardson finished with 20, while Warrick off the bench had a season high of 26.  And even thought the stats are about even on both sides, the Suns were able to get to the line more often, going 23 of 35, while the Wizards ended 12 of 15.

Early in the first, the Suns went out cold, trailing by as much as 10 midway through.  Phoenix eventually closed the gap and took the lead in the second, going up 3 by halftime.  Then the scoring ensued, starting with a 19-10 run to break the game wide open.  It doesn’t sound like much, but they held a lead as big as 18 in the third, and expanded that to 21 in the fourth.  The Suns outscored the Wizards 31-17 in the third, which was the deciding factor in the victory.

While the Suns were dumping down stats back and forth, the Wizards finished rather nicely as well.  Andray Blatche finished with a team high 24 points, while John Wall had 12 assists.  As Washington though continues their road trip out west with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Suns will head up north to Oregon and face the Portland Trail Blazers.