For at least half of Monday night's game in Dallas, it
looked like the Suns could finish a daunting five-city road trip with more wins
than losses. With Dirk Nowitzki in street clothes due to a knee injury, it
seemed a perfect opportunity to topple the defending champion Mavericks.
After trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, the Suns climbed
back to within striking distance. That effort ultimately was not quite good
enough, though, as the Suns lost 93-87, punctuating the road trip with a result
fitting of the team's current condition.
"We tried to get this one," forward Markieff Morris said on FOX
Sports Arizona's postgame show. "We needed this momentum to go back home,
but we’ve got another game tomorrow."
At 6-10 after going 2-3 on the nine-day trip, the Suns remain in limbo; not
quite good enough to contend and not quite bad enough for the Western
Conference cellar. It's a kind of basketball purgatory that frustrates fans
just as much as it fuels speculation about Steve Nash's future with the
franchise.
Getting wins over Boston and New York on the trip was much better than many
expected, but even with a tough slate of opponents, those aren't the expectations
for a contender. Those are the expectations for a team simply look to keep its
head above water in a grueling season compacted by the lockout.
At this rate, the Suns won't find themselves playing past 66 games or drafting
very high come June, and it seems inevitable that they will be forced into a
rebuilding period. That's been the consensus for some time now, and the road
trip reaffirmed it.
While getting a pair of wins certainly offered some hope that the Suns can
figure out their inconsistencies and possibly sneak into the playoffs, the
perception gathered from those victories may be a bit skewed.
The Knicks, also 6-10 with the season about a quarter of the way over, have
been lifeless lately amid a six-game losing streak, and the Celtics were without
Rajon Rondo. Then again, the Bulls were without reigning MVP Derrick Rose and
the Mavericks without Nowitzki.
Those matchups simply demonstrated further the banged-up nature of the entire
league right now. Depleted opponents are commonplace this season as teams
squeeze 66 games into five months, and Suns coach Alvin Gentry, as he often
does, downplayed Nowitzki's absence after Monday's game.
"They didn't win the championship with one guy," Gentry said.
"They've got a deep team, and they're a good team. Obviously they're a
great team with Dirk out there, but they've got some very capable guys."
On the opposite end of the spectrum of lessons learned on a road jaunt that
covered more than 6,000 miles, there was further confirmation of the defensive
culture change that came to Phoenix with assistant coach Elston Turner. While
games like the 118-97 loss to the Rose-less Bulls raise some question the Suns'
newfound defense, the greater numbers tell a truer story.
The Suns have held 10 of their first 16 opponents, including three of their
last five, under 100 points. It took them more than twice as long, 41 games,
last season to keep that many opponents under the century mark in a game.
Opponents are averaging 94.6 points per game and shooting 44.2 percent. This
new defense, it seems, is no desert mirage.
The Suns weathered what was probably the toughest five-game stretch they'll see
all season, coming home without falling totally out of contention. There's some
respite Tuesday, as the Suns host the flailing Raptors, though a back-to-back
offers little time to recover from their time away from home.
That's just another part of the harsh reality that remains: Things aren't
getting any easier any time soon for these Suns.
