Dirk and the Mavs scorched the Suns with 55.2 percent shooting and 14 treys. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

PHOENIX — Three Dallas players roasted the Phoenix Suns for 20 or more points, and the the Mavericks used the three-pointer to open up a lead that ended in a 122-99 blowout on Monday night.

Led by Delonte West’s 25, Vince Carter’s 21 and Shawn Marion’s 20 — all scored in 28 minutes or less — Marcin Gortat’s 17 points, 10 boards and four blocks weren’t nearly enough for the Suns.

Of late the Suns have struggled to defend the paint, and despite looking rather efficient on offense with Steve Nash sitting out with a left knee contusion, deepening those struggles at US Airways Center was the Suns’ failure to run the Mavs off the three-point line.

“They have a great offense, they have different counters, they have people who can score in different ways,” said Jared Dudley, who scored 15 points. “It’s just a tough team to guard, and once they start hitting shots the floodgates really opened.

“It was really tough for us, even when we had our hand up on good defense they were hitting it,” he added. “(With) bad defense, they made us pay every time. This is becoming a common theme around here.”

If you’ve ever seen a Clive Owen movie in which he totes a firearm, you’d seen this game before. Against Phoenix, Dallas built an 18-point halftime lead by shooting the Suns up for 10-of-16 three-pointers. The Mavs also controlled the interior with 15 second-chance points in the first half while outrebounding the Suns 23-13.

The Suns were trailing 40-37 with 7:38 left in the half, but by the time a 26-11 Dallas onslaught was over, the Mavericks just had to play keepaway in the second half.

“Tough loss,” Gortat said. “They were shooting the ball very well today, but you know what? End of the day, we let them do that.”

Somehow, the product on the court didn’t look so bad, and that was likely due to the Suns being relatively safe with the ball — five turnovers at halftime — and shooting a solid 48.6 percent. But next to the Mavs’ 57.4 percent shooting at halftime, that meant little.

All of Phoenix’s woes continued in the second half, and Dallas finished the game shooting 55.2 percent to Phoenix’s 43.8 percent accuracy.

The Mavs didn’t show signs of tired legs coming off a hard-fought, overtime win against San Antonio the night prior. Carter himself scored 21 mostly off catch-and-shoots to follow up a 21-point performance last night.

Phoenix found itself down 31-24 after the first quarter as both teams shot above 51 percent from the field, and Dallas didn’t turn the ball over once in the period.

Josh Childress provided a spark off the bench, scoring nine first-half points while guarding Dirk Nowitzki when Grant Hill sat. J-Chill ended the night with nine points, four rebounds and two steals in his third game back in head coach Alvin Gentry’s rotation, and his play received the only positive comments of the night.

Mavericks

Suns

PHOENIX — It would only be fitting for Steve Nash to break the Phoenix Suns’ all-time franchise assist record in front of his home fans against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks.

That seems likely as Two Time needs to hand out a mere seven assists in tonight’s 7 p.m. tilt against the Mavs to pass Kevin Johnson, a rather ordinary total for the NBA’s current assists leader at 9.9 a contest. That is assuming he is able to play through the left thigh bruise he suffered at the end of Saturday’s win over the Grizzlies, which Nash said he is “optimistic” will be the case although The Arizona Republic reported he is merely questionable.

Nash has passed out 6,512 helpers during his time with the Suns, 6,112 of which have come in 559 games since returning to Phoenix in 2004 (about 10.9 a game). He averaged just 2.8 a contest in 141 games between 1996-98 before heading to Dallas.

But since signing with the Suns in 2004, he’s been unquestionably the best assist man in the NBA. According to the Suns’ pregame notes, Nash owns the most assists since the start of every season since his return to Phoenix, providing remarkable consistency (and health) in leading the Suns’ high-flying offense. Even with the Phoenix offense grounded a bit this year Nash still finds himself at the top of the assists leader board.

KJ passed Alvan Adams for the all-time Suns record on April 2, 1993, and almost 7,000 days later it appears he will pass on that crown to a player he faced every day in practice during Nash’s formative years.

“If I had to pick one person to break my record, I’d be honored to have Steve be that guy,” KJ told The Arizona Republic. “He’s been a great ambassador to the game both on and off the court and has a work ethic that is second to none. No doubt Steve will break more records as he continues his Hall of Fame career.”

Another former Suns point guard from Nash’s early days (Jason Kidd) will be on hand for the potential record breaker, although he is currently out with a calf injury. Shawn Marion, who was on the receiving end of many of those assists, will be in attendance as well after torching the Suns for 29 points in a Mavs victory last week, as will Vince Carter.

Never one to celebrate records, Nash is likely focusing more on how important it is for Phoenix to build on Saturday’s victory over Memphis.

The Suns have yet to extend any kind of a winning streak all season, with their lone runs being a pair of two-game streaks. Every time they have gotten a big victory, another long losing streak has been just around the corner.

Based on recent history the Mavericks aren’t the most likely team for Phoenix to embark on a winning streak against. The Mavericks have beaten the Suns twice in Dallas already this year and seven times in a row overall. Since the start of the 2008-09 season the Suns have just two victories in 13 games against Nash’s former team.

“I expect us defensively to try to set the tone,” Jared Dudley said. “Dallas is a team that doesn’t have too many weaknesses. They’re smart, they’re deep, they can shoot, post up, and they play hard, so for us it’s going to be setting the tone early. Hopefully we can hit some shots to open up the paint a little bit.”

The Suns do have one advantage in that they took Sunday off while the Mavs needed overtime to secure a hard-fought victory over the Spurs in which they blew an 18-point lead. Kidd is out and Dirk Nowitzki is just coming back from his “eight-day personal training camp,” as ESPN Dallas’ Jeff Caplan put it, only to play 38 minutes against the Spurs.

The Suns’ best shot at a victory, therefore, may be to push the tempo more than the middle-of-the-pack pace team that they are and take advantage of a weary Mavericks squad like they did earlier this season in a home thrashing of the Blazers.

For that to happen, as always, the Suns will need their soon-to-be assists record holder to lead the charge.

And 1

According to John Hollinger’s Playoff Odds, the Suns possess just a 1.7 percent chance of reaching postseason play with an estimated 24-42 record. However, those odds give them a 6.6 percent chance of winning the lottery.

Suns

Mavericks

After the Suns defeated a Boston Celtics team without Rajon Rondo on Friday, the basketball gods keep shining hope upon a Phoenix team that could use any and all luck.

Dirk Nowitzki is out as the Mavericks face the Suns today at 6:30 p.m. in Dallas, but that’s not to say Phoenix will have as easy of a time as they did against the sputtering Celtics.

Nowitzki is expected to sit out four games, the first of which resulted in a 83-81 Dallas victory against the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday. In the German’s place was forward Lamar Odom, who helped soften the blow with a season-high 16 points.

Head coach Alvin Gentry and crew will probably take it.

Somehow, the Suns keep clinging to the idea of becoming a .500 team this season, and injuries hitting their opponents in a timely matter keeps that notion alive. In our 3-on-3 preview of the road trip, only an optimistic Ryan Weisert believed Phoenix would win more than a game, and the possibility of winning a third is in the Suns’ grasp at the last stop of the five-game swing.

While missing an All-Star power forward in Nowitzki is slightly different than Boston missing their motor in Rondo, we should once again expect a grind-it-out, defensive affair.

Although Phoenix has won two consecutive games while holding their opponents to less than 90 points, the victories came against teams that haven’t been offensive juggernauts. Still, the Suns are of a new identity that relies upon defense to make up for an up-tempo offense that just might not come, as Paul Coro writes, and perhaps those are the types of games they can consistently win.

Meanwhile, Dallas puts up the NBA’s third best defensive rating by giving up 96.4 points per 100 possessions, and they’ve gone 14 straight games without allowing an opponent to go over the triple-digit mark.

So considering the Suns’ newfound ability to win in somewhat close, low-scoring games, the guess here is that this one will likewise go down to the wire.

And with the Mavs missing their star, maybe Phoenix will have enough to pull off a winning record by the end of a road trip that looked like it would send the team into a tailspin.

Phoenix’s keys to the game

1. Soften Lamar like a Kardashian

I’m pretty sure the only episode of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” that I intently watched involved Lamar Odom lazily creating a unisex cologne/perfume. That was pretty indecisive and weak of him, and the Suns must make Lamar look just as soft come Monday night. Coming off his best game of the season while starting in place of Nowitzki, it’s imperative Phoenix puts their sights on the one player that can single-handedly break down their defense. And considering Odom’s second-best game of the year came against the Suns in a 15-point performance on Jan. 4., a strong defensive effort would also act as a statement against a player that has historically given Phoenix fits.

2. A shot of testosterone

It’s obvious Phoenix is a jump-shooting team, and it’s clear it gets many of those open jumpers by way of Steve Nash assists. Still, it’s somewhat troubling that the Suns are second-to-last in the NBA by taking an average of 18.2 free throws per game. That smells of a team lacking aggression. Without many slashers on the team it’s understandable, but since the Suns are sixth in free throw percentage, the guess here is that guys like Grant Hill and Shannon Brown could get some easy points by attacking rather than settling for midrange jump shots. And while maybe they don’t have the one-on-one capability to make that happen, why not find a way to make those opportunities come by way of Nash assists as well?

3. Remember The Matrix

Seriously. Shawn Marion still has it. Behind Dirk, the former Phoenix forward has the second-highest PER on the Mavs for players who see at least 20 minutes of playing time. With Nowitzki out, head coach Rick Carlisle called Marion the team’s best player, and along with guard Jason Terry he is expecting The Matrix to carry much of the scoring load while the All-Star is out. Marion has taken at least 10 shots per game in the last four games, and he also has two double-doubles in that span.

Steve Nash went for 15 points and 12 assists but it wasn't enough against J-Kidd and the Mavs. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

For one night, the Suns and Mavericks played a game of inches. It wasn’t that the Mavs dominated the Suns in any one aspect of the game, and the problem in an 98-89 loss for Phoenix wasn’t any single matchup or deficiency.

Instead, Dallas was simply better by a slight margin all-around. Instead of swimming upstream against a torrential, incessant current, Steve Nash and company were rowing in an injury-riddled canoe — but with an oar made of sugar. After all, there were quite a few sweet spots, even if the final tally was bitter.

Nash came out with his hair on fire, scoring five points and dishing three assists in the first five and half minutes of the game. Channing Frye, who’s suffering from a case of the misses on his long field goal attempts so far this season, equaled Nash’s scoring total over the same time, and it looked as if the Suns would be able to hang with the Mavericks.

That optimism was short-lived, however, as the Phoenix offense came apart in the second quarter. Managing only seven shots in the paint and forced to the perimeter for most of their field goals, the Suns scored 16 points and found themselves trailing by eight going into halftime. While the offense rebounded in the third quarter, Dallas caught fire themselves in the third quarter, behind a strong strech by its star, Dirk Nowitzki, and a backbreaking buzzer-beating three-pointer by Jason Terry to end the quarter.

As Nash said in discussing the Mavericks’ offensive execution against the Suns defense, “We’re putting a lot of pressure on our offense. We haven’t made as many shots as we’re accustomed to.”

Terry continued to bury the Suns in the fourth, dropping another three triples. Coach Alvin Gentry said after the game that he doesn’t really consider Terry, who doesn’t start, a bench player, and he’s absolutely right. Terry is as much a bench player as Jared Dudley and Marcin Gortat were last year.

Speaking of Gortat, he had a bit of a breakout game, shooting 66 percent from the floor on 15 shots (tallying 22 points total), though his total rebound rate was only 13.3 percent. He grabbed 10 rebounds, but that was a product of the number of misses and his 38 minutes.

The minutes alone are encouraging, however, as it seems to indicate that Gortat is starting to feel a little more comfortable with his thumb injury and able to stay on the floor as a result. Robin Lopez, whose performance has fluctuated fairly widely in relief of Gortat over the past several games, saw only 10 minutes; he grabbed no rebounds.

Dudley’s night was hit-and-miss. He was his usual active self, particularly on the defensive end — where the Suns as a whole exhibited an encouraging amount of effort, even if the results were wanting — but shot 4 of 13 from the field. Many of those misses were a result of Dudley being used as a release valve late in the shot clock, however, low-percentage shots that someone has to take.

The NBA’s friendlier version of Stadtler and Waldorf, Nash and Grant Hill, had classic nights of their own, if not quite vintage. After getting off to his hot start, Nash finished the night shooting the ball well – a 60 percent TS% that could have been higher were it not for the Suns facing such a large deficit in the fourth and Nash missing several 3s in an attempt to bring the team back — and he dished 12 assists, only his second double-double of the season.* One of the missed triples was a wide-open corner three, but that was the only glaring deficiency in a performance akin to those Nash is accustomed.

*A factoid that’s admittedly skewed by the fact that Nash’s minutes have been limited in two losses that were well in hand — for the other team, that is — with at least a quarter of play left and the Suns inability to finish and put the ball in the basket. In such a compressed season, resting Nash on such nights is a pretty good idea.

Hill was in Nowitzki’s jersey on the defensive end whenever the two were on the court together, and he managed to fool Dallas defenders into thinking he was a three-point threat with pump-fake dribble-drives from the perimeter, scoring on several looks after getting Mavericks into the air, Top Gun-style, and on a nifty step-through in the second quarter that Suns broadcaster Tom Leander described as similar to a move by Nowitzki. Hill’s ability to get to the middle of the floor for easy looks is all the more impressive when one considers that he’s yet to knock down a three on the year; he went 0-for-1 from deep tonight. He and Hakim Warrick did a fair job holding Nowitzki to 20 points on 17 shots, but Terry’s triples, combined with Lamar Odom’s 15 points, five rebounds, and two steals off the bench, rendered the work put into defending Dirk null.

In the end, the Mavericks were just slightly better each time down the floor than the Suns were. There was no massive rupture to the canoe, no waterfall to desperately avoid. The Suns simply were fighting against the tide with an oar that slowly dissolved each time down the floor. When the final buzzer sounded, they were left clutching nothing but a loss and, once again, floating backward.

And 1

• Rookie Markieff Morris cooled off in this game, only scoring four points in 17 minutes. He did grab five rebounds, however, continuing his strong showing on the boards. His limited minutes were more a product of Gentry continuing to play the starters, especially as the Suns made a run in the fourth quarter, than poor play on his part. Expect him to continue to play a big role for the team.
• Former Sun Shawn Marion played as if he had something to prove to his old squad, getting into the lane for his patented, ugly floater-hook shot and grabbing seven boards — 6 offensive. Though several were his own misses, he was active in the paint amongst the Phoenix bigs and seemed to relish his opportunities.
• Another former Sun, Jason Kidd, did what he does, controlling the game while hardly scoring at all. Kidd had three points on six shots (!) in 28 minutes, but he orchestrated the offense (zero turnovers, three assists, and several passes that led to the open man down the line) and did his best to fight over screens and harass Nash on defense.
• The Suns play four of their next five games at home, split up by a road game on Tuesday at the Lakers. None of those games are on a back-to-back. The Suns will need all the rest they can get before they embark on a five-game road trip after that initial five-game stretch against the Spurs, Bulls, Knicks, Celtics and Mavs.

Suns

Mavericks

PHOENIX — Count the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks as two teams that the NBA lockout and the loss of a real training camp has hampered to start the season. In fact, label the Suns and Mavericks, who will meet in American Airlines Center tonight at 6:30 p.m. MST, as two of the most question-laden teams in the NBA.

But let’s remember who these teams are: Phoenix was an average ball club last season with a roster relatively unchanged while Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks are the defending NBA champs.

Sure, the Mavs are the defending champs without Tyson Chandler, DeShawn Stevenson and J.J. Barea, three players that took their unique roles elsewhere. That doesn’t mean Dallas isn’t beginning to find itself in its seventh game of the season.

The Mavs are coming off an impressive 100-87 victory against the previously-undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder, and at home where they’ve beaten Phoenix the last seven times, it won’t be easy for the Suns.

“I know they’re struggling right now,” Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said, “but at the end of the year they’re going to be right there.

“I don’t think they’re in any kind of panic situation or anything,” he added. “I know they lost a couple of guys but they’re still a good basketball team.”

So how do the Suns stop Dirk?

Grant Hill has traditionally been the tool of choice in stopping Nowitzki. However, he’s only played more than 30 minutes in one of Phoenix’s first five games and that might be due to a tender knee. Gentry will have to reach into his back pocket to figure this one out.

“We go there, you got to play solid basketball and you’ve got to know guarding Dirk (Nowitzki) is a really tough matchup,” Phoenix’s head coach said. “It doesn’t matter who you play on him. Our hands are full.”

Channing Frye is a big risk in handling Nowitzki on the perimeter so that leaves the Suns with the options of Hakim Warrick — not known for his defense, although the length couldn’t hurt — and an undersized Josh Childress if Gentry will pull him off the bench.

The intriguing matchup would be rookie Markieff Morris getting a stab at Dirk and physically it might be a good idea. Although Nowitzki could quickly put Keef in foul trouble, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gentry dabble with Morris on the German for a few minutes here and there, just to see how the rookie handles it (by the way, Morris is killing it across the board in advanced stats).

Whatever the case may be, look for the Suns to implement some traps on Nowitzki and keep an eye out for how well the help defense is rotating behind said trap.

“Dallas is tough at home, but they’re definitely beatable,” Suns guard Ronnie Price said. “I think some of the defensive things that we’ve been doing … if we come out and execute the way we know we can, and play a full solid game instead of one quarter off and one quarter on, I think Dallas has matchup problems with us.”

Something (anything?) from the bigs

I wrote in the Golden State preview that the Suns must win the matchups in the paint. Well, that didn’t happen as I thought it would. Marcin Gortat and Robin Lopez were quiet throughout, and the duo of 7-footers saw time on the pine in the fourth quarter in favor of Morris and Frye.

As a resilient individual — or perhaps an unrealistic one — I’ll again say that Gortat and Lopez must give Phoenix something extra coming off a disappointing performance in which they combined for seven points and seven rebounds in 30 combined minutes.

Said Gentry: “It comes down to execution, and obviously rebounding the basketball against that team is important.”

Marion questionable against Suns

Former Suns All-Star and current Maverick Shawn Marion is questionable against the Suns tonight after missing the morning shootaround with an illness, according to ESPN Dallas’ Jeff Caplan. If Marion isn’t able to go, look for head coach Rick Carlisle to give former Laker Lamar Odom his first start for the Mavs.

Odom has struggled so far, and his minutes have dwindled. But if memory serves me correctly, he’s had the Suns’ number and presents another matchup problem when on the court with Nowitzki.

Oklahoma City

The Thunder were last season’s team on the rise. Behind the transcendent play of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City grabbed the 4th seed and hosted their first playoff series. The strength of the team was their ability to score from both the floor and the free throw line. They also had a strong inside presence on both sides of the ball. Serge Ibaka and midseason addition Kendrick Perkins helped the Thunder into the top 10 in rebounding and blocks. This complemented the team’s strong perimeter defense which was top 10 in steals. This complete identity helped the Thunder to their first (but definitely not last) Western Conference Finals appearance.

Identity: The Thunder surrounded their two superstars with hard working complementary role players who made the team tough on both sides of the ball.

Dallas Mavericks

Basketball is the only sport where having a 7-foot tall, lanky, blonde German as the face of your franchise can be a good thing. Luckily the “B” in NBA stands for Basketball, so the Mavericks are all set. The Mavs rode Dirk Nowitzki to the 3rd seed in the West. Dirk, despite all his detractors, then carried the team to its first NBA title. Dallas’ identity was founded upon their unselfish play and excellent shooting. The Mavericks were near the top of the league in assists and FG%, and they were also among the league’s most prolific outside shooters (something to which the Miami Heat can definitely attest.) On the defensive side of the ball, they were fourth in the Western Conference in points allowed per game. Being disciplined on both sides of the ball in addition to having one of the 20 best players of all time were the keys to Dallas’ success.

Identity: The Mavericks surrounded their superstar with a Hall of Fame point guard and undervalued but still worthy role players and became a strong team on both ends of the court.

Los Angeles Lakers

There are very few things this team didn’t do well last season. Unfortunately for their fans, playing well in the playoffs was one of them. If not for the Spurs’ unbelievable run, the Lakers would have been the top seed in the West for the fourth straight season. They earned the 2nd seed by leading the Western Conference in point differential. They were third in the West in points allowed and second in rebounding. The trio of Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol helped the Lakers get into the top 10 in blocks as well. The amount of size the Lakers could play alongside their superstar shooting guard made them a formidable opponent. In hindsight, their early exit at the hands of the Mavericks may have been due to larger forces at work considering the Cinderella nature of Dallas’ championship run.

Identity: The Lakers’ size and ability to score were intimidating, but their lack of point guard play and assists ultimately did them in.

San Antonio Spurs

The last great run of the Spurs grabbed them the top seed in the West for the first time since 2006, but the fairy tale ended there as they were ousted by eighth-seeded Memphis in the first round. The Spurs’ identity was molded around their core trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, and Tony Parker. Though typically a low scoring, strong defensive team, the Spurs were sixth in the league in scoring last season, while still holding opponents under 100 points per game. The increase in scoring can be attributed to their incredible outside shooting, which led the league. San Antonio was also top 10 in assists while committing the sixth fewest turnovers in the league. In the end, the Spurs probably just wore down in the playoffs, which allowed the younger and perhaps hungrier Grizzlies to take advantage.

Identity: The addition of stellar 3-point shooting to the old standbys unselfishness, discipline, and hard-work made the Spurs a dominant force in the regular season.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns still scored like the Nash-led teams of the past, averaging the fourth-most points and third-most assists per game last season. What hurt Phoenix this year and led to their first losing season in the Nash era was their abysmal lack of rebounding and defense.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Suns have never been known as a defensive juggernaut, but in years past they have worked for defensive boards and generated blocks. This year, there was no inside presence at all on the defensive end, and with the exception of Marcin Gortat, none on the offensive end either. Though he was never a defensive standout, Amar’e Stoudemire’s departure can be blamed for both lapses in the paint. On the bright side, the Suns did shoot the 3 at a fantastic rate. So where does that leave us?

Looking back over the list of playoff teams there are a few with similarities to the Suns. New Orleans’ identity, like the Suns’, is centered around their point guard. Like Dallas and San Antonio, Phoenix has a high number of assists and shoots a strong percentage from the field and beyond the arc. Like the Blazers, Phoenix has two big men who can stretch the defense (Channing Frye and rookie Markieff Morris), and like the Lakers, Phoenix has two 7-footers in Robin Lopez and Marcin Gortat who might be able to play side by side for stretches. So what will the finished product identity look like? I don’t know, but I can wager a guess.

First off, much will depend on Steve Nash. If he is traded, this whole column is moot. If he does stick around, however, the next piece of the puzzle is Vince Carter. Though not my favorite player, he is one of the only players on the roster who can create his own shot and score 20-plus points a night. Every team in the NBA needs at least one perimeter guy like this.

For my taste, Vince is too erratic and not motivated enough to fill this role the way Jason Richardson did on a nightly basis, so if the Suns trade him or buy him out, they need to bring in someone who can take over this role. The problem is that perimeter players with that kind of scoring potential tend to get vastly overpaid (like Vince is), which is one of the reasons we had a lockout in the first place. However, if the Suns can get a player like ’09 J-Rich, they might be able to make a return to the playoffs next season.

Size has never been a big component of the Suns’ roster. Now they have it in spades. Gortat has shown the ability to be a 20-10 (or more reasonably 15-10) kind of player. He works hard on the boards and has good back-to-the-basket game. More importantly, “The Polish Hammer” doesn’t seem to be intimidated by anyone. This is important in a league where he’ll have to matchup against Bynum, the Gasol brothers, Zach Randolph, Duncan, and Al Jefferson. Gortat should have plenty of room to maneuver if Channing Frye and rookie Markieff Morris can stretch the defense with their range. A team that shoots from beyond the arc as much as the Suns must have great ball movement around the perimeter to find shooters in open spots. Having a big man duo that can play inside-outside is a big plus in that department. With Lopez to spell Gortat, the Suns can have a solid front line if the team commits to defense.

Committing to defense is easier said than done, especially when the team’s centerpiece, Steve Nash, hasn’t played any since his time at Santa Clara. In order to compete, the Suns are going to have to stop their opponent from scoring at will, so my solution for a radical change is going zone.

Some might think it’s a gimmick, but if you look at Dallas’ roster and the Suns’ there are some similarities. An older and slower point guard. A big man who plays from the perimeter. Lots and lots of small forwards. Dallas used the zone to win an NBA championship, so it’s at least worth a shot. If the Suns could drop their big front line into a zone, then suddenly Nash’s inability to stay in front of anyone besides Derek Fisher won’t be an issue because there will be nowhere for them to go.

While the zone does make them vulnerable to outside shooting teams, the casual ‘D’ they played last season isn’t much better at running teams off their spots behind the arc. If Phoenix plays with size, most teams in the West will counter by going small. The zone will clog the lane, making it hard for smaller guys to get around the larger Suns’ defenders and score. The Suns could play a 2-3 with Nash and Grant Hill at the top, Gortat protecting the hoop, and Frye and Dudley along the baseline. Though no player is extremely strong defensively, as a unit they could work. And by work, I mean hold an opponent under 100.

Zone would also help get the Suns into better rebounding position. The one downside is that it’s hard to run out of the zone if your second guard isn’t comfortable handling the ball and getting out quick (Jason Terry for the Mavericks). I don’t know if the Suns have another guard like that. Either way, the fast break offense may need to go as the roster just doesn’t have the stable of speedsters it has had in years past.

I think the Suns could make the playoffs with an identity similar to what I laid out above: a team that shoots well from the outside and pounds the ball down low in the post on offense, and a team that uses primarily zone to overcome its inadequacies on defense. It may not be “Seven Seconds or Less.” It may not be all that exciting. But I think it can be successful as long as they have a healthy Steve Nash at the helm.

It’s a lot to wish for, but hey, Christmas is right around the corner.

As part of the project I will be posting links to team previews from other participating blogs to take a peak at the entire NBA landscape as things currently stand. Today that journey starts with Southwest Division previews.

Mavericks: MavsMoneyball

Spurs: Project Spurs

Rockets: The Dream Shake

Hornets: At The Hive

Grizzlies: Straight Outta Vancouver

Former Suns Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion finally won a championship. (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

As Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki celebrate deliriously, it’s time for us to face the unfortunate fact that it could be some time before we see another NBA game.

Come July 1, the NBA will lock its players out and it’s anybody’s guess when play will resume. The owners and players are far apart as things stand, and everybody who loves the NBA can only hope this shortens the offseason and doesn’t run into the 2011-12 season (or cancel it altogether).

At this point the sides seem to be far enough apart that let’s just say I hope you enjoyed the incredible playoffs we just witnessed.

While the Suns of course have been dormant for two months now, all Phoenix fans must feel good for Shawn Marion. The Matrix played a superb defensive NBA Finals in limiting LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and finally gets his ring after so many years coming oh so close in Phoenix.

So long as you don’t still harbor resentment for how Jason Kidd left the Valley you’ve got to feel happy for him as well, and then there’s Dirk, who must have jumped a level in Bill Simmons’ pyramid of all-time great players. Dirk changed his legacy as a choke artist in the playoffs by putting the Mavs on his back and carrying them through an exhilarating run to the championship.

Right after the Spurs, the Mavs were the Suns’ biggest rivals during the heart of the Nash Era, with the teams splitting classic series in 2004-05 and 2005-06. These teams were linked by the large number of players that seemed to play for both teams at some point, starting with Nash, but as the Suns seem to be on the verge of rebuilding the veteran Mavericks finally reached the league’s pinnacle.

Don’t leave that bench, unless a timeout was called

The league is lucky the Mavericks won tonight or it might have quite the decision on its hands.

An altercation ensued during a second quarter timeout as both benches strolled onto the floor to greet their teammates that resulted in almost every player on both rosters in the middle of the court.

As everybody on Twitter reminded me, the difference between this and the Amare/Diaw situation that I can’t resist bringing up is that this occurred during a timeout when teams are allowed to come onto the floor.

But the rule was created to prevent a situation just like this where congestion in the middle of the court can escalate a fracas in a hurry.

League spokesman Tim Frank said in a statement that “a player will not automatically be suspended for leaving the bench if he has already left the bench because a timeout was called.”

I understand that it would be ridiculous to suspend critical players such as LeBron James who started to walk onto the court before the altercation even began. But it seems just as crazy to have suspended Amare and Diaw by strictly following the letter of the law even when they did nothing to escalate that incident but not to suspend players like Brian Cardinal and Joel Anthony who jumped right into the middle of the action in violation of the spirit of the law (Anthony sprinted into the picture looking for a fight!).

At this juncture it’s a moot point, but I would have hoped the league would have considered suspending at least an escalator like Anthony rather than sparing him because of the importance of the game.

Perhaps the funniest part for any Suns fan is that James Jones knew better than to leave the bench area as he was the only Heat player that didn’t charge onto the court. Perhaps he learned something as a member of the 2006-07 Suns.

The Matrix is on the cusp of a championship in Dallas playing the role of defensive stopper. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Steve Nash’s odyssey for a championship is well known in these parts, but let’s not forget about his old running mate Shawn Marion’s quest now that the Matrix is four wins away from becoming an NBA champion.

Marion combined with Nash and Amare Stoudemire to form a devastating Big Three that perfectly fit Mike D’Antoni’s style, and his monster 2005-06 when he averaged 21.8 and 11.9 without Amare solidified himself as an all-time Suns great.

Marion never felt completely respected in Phoenix with so much credit going to Nash and Stoudemire and when the team did not want to give him a three-year, $60 million extension, he wanted out as the 2007-08 season began.

That Suns eventually granted that wish by rolling the dice on the Shaq trade, and Marion became a shell of his former self in stops with Miami and Toronto.

Now onto Dallas and at the age of 33, Matrix has finally embraced the super role player role. He can still explode for 26 and eight as he did in Wednesday’s clincher, but his primary value comes in the form of being an energy guy and defensive stopper, a crucial responsibility for a team that just faced Kevin Durant and likely will be seeing LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in the Finals. If only he had come to peace with this role in the Valley.

Marion may have been undervalued during his time in Phoenix, as his Wins Produced numbers suggest, but at the same time it’s tough to be too undervalued when you’re consistently leading the team in minutes and near the top in shot attempts while filling out the entire stat sheet.

Perhaps it’s just the fact that Matrix didn’t play as glamorous of a role as Nash and Amare did. Instead of running the offense or scoring in isolation, he was doing all the little things, defending every position a la Grant Hill (often making up for Nash’s porous ‘D’), running the floor, stealing, blocking and scoring without plays being called for him.

Steve Nash will always define the Seven Seconds or Less Era, but Shawn Marion provided the glue that held those teams together and made that run so special.

Not quite six degrees of separation for Steve Nash

This Mavericks team represents every stage of Steve Nash’s career.

There’s Jason Kidd, the “veteran” point guard with Phoenix back when Nash was a rookie somehow still chugging along and playing solid basketball at the ripe old age of 38.

Then there’s Nash’s old running mate and best friend Dirk Nowitzki, the only remaining Maverick from Nash’s time in Dallas. One can only speculate whether that duo would have won a championship together by now, but their success apart with three combined MVPs speaks for itself.

Finally there’s Marion, Nash’s connection to the SSOL years in Phoenix and a player who proved to be a perfect complement to Nash on both ends of the court.

As for Nash’s future, Dallas has always been mentioned as one of the teams that would potentially be most interested in pursuing a deal for Two Time if the Suns dangle him on the open market.

His career really would come full circle if we were to wind up back in a point guard battle with Kidd as vets, playing as a complementary star to Dirk with Marion filling in the cracks.

If Nash is dealt, I bet it will be to a team that fell just short in the postseason and feels Two Time could be the missing piece.

At this point such a deal would seem unlikely since Kidd and J.J. Barea have played so well and another short guard, Jason Terry, logs lots of minutes. That’s not to mention the talent of Roddy Beaubois, a player who would likely be in such a deal.

However, if Dallas falls short against Miami/Chicago and Cuban feels Nash could be the final piece, perhaps the Mavs would vault back to the top of that list.

All that will take care of itself later in the summer, as right now the Suns maintain the viewpoint that Nash is their franchise player and they will continue to build around him so long as he can dribble a basketball.

For the Mavs, meanwhile, legacies are at stake as Dirk, Marion and Kidd play for their first title.

Aaron Brooks and the Suns lost Sunday for the ninth time in their last 12 games. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

The Suns’ season ended exactly two weeks ago at home against Dallas.

Or at least that’s when the team mailed in the rest of its schedule.

14 days later, it seems only fitting Phoenix would be dismantled by the playoff bound Mavericks in the Lone Star State.

The Suns were flat in all aspects Sunday afternoon, losing 115-90 to Dallas and clinching a losing season.

Phoenix came out of the gate with no purpose, falling behind from the beginning.

At the end of the first quarter, Dallas led 36-17.

The second 12 minutes was much of the same. The Suns showcased their lack of will and played poorly on both ends of the court.

By the time halftime mercifully gave Phoenix a break, the Mavericks were up 65-39. The 26-point deficit was the most the team has trailed by at the half all season.

The Suns began the third period on a 9-2 run and held Dallas to 15 points in the quarter while scoring 21 themselves.

In the fourth, the Mavericks heated up again to put away any chance of a late comeback.

Phoenix finished the game 2-of-20 from three-point land after the team missed its first 16 attempts.

Aaron Brooks hit the first one in the fourth quarter and Vince Carter added another late.

No Suns starter hit a three. The five went a combined 0-for-11.

According to The Arizona Republic’s Paul Coro, Suns coach Alvin Gentry answered just one postgame question, said thanks and left.

Apparently Gentry is as fed up with the season as his team is. Phoenix didn’t show up Sunday. The team looked disinterested on the court and no one played cohesively.

There’s not exactly much motivation to play hard at this point, but getting embarrassed is about pride.

Pride for the franchise, pride for the fans and pride for the players themselves.

The loss sealed Dallas’ first season sweep of the Suns since 1986-87. But it’s been that kind of year in Phoenix. Not many highs and countless new lows.

Just two games remain now between the Suns and a long summer.

Steve Nash, who missed three of the last five games, scored six points and dished nine assists.

“We lacked energy and passion. We got what we deserve,” Nash told Suns.com. “We’ve been out of it for a little while. I think a part of it is that when you’re out of it, there’s a letdown. Even your shooting, you’re turned off mentally just a touch and you miss shots you normally make. It’s hard when you’re not playing for anything to try to make it count.”

Josh Childress played a team-high 29 minutes Sunday, scoring eight points.

Marcin Gortat, as usual, continued to play hard, leading the team with 15 points and nine rebounds. His defense wasn’t great and his play on the boards was lacking as well, but considering what was going on around him, Gortat performed admirably (the same can’t be said for the majority of his teammates).

The Polish Hammer must be getting sick of being a silver lining amid a team full of guys just praying for the season to end.

Phoenix wraps up its year this week at home against the Timberwolves and Spurs.