This year a whopping six teams found themselves in a 3-1 hole and two went home in Game 5, another two in Game 6 and a final two were sent packing by the LA teams in Game 7.

Last week ESPN’s John Hollinger wrote after the Pacers had ended Orlando’s long-shot hopes that there was a 59.1 percent chance of at least one team finishing the job, according to AccuScore’s ESPN NBA Playoff Predictor.

Personally, I really liked Memphis’ chances and thought the Bulls had a decent shot as well since two of the three games both teams would need to win would come on their home floor.

Instead, the 2006 Suns remain the last team to pull off a 3-1 comeback. Surely you remember that fascinating first-round series that featured a Kobe buzzer-beater in Game 4 amid some interesting officiating, the Raja Bell clothesline on Kobe in Game 5, the Tim Thomas shot that saved a season and a book in Game 6 as well as the Kobe pass contest in a Game 7 rout.

In honor of the second-seeded Suns completing the kind of thrilling series comeback that nobody has duplicated in the past six years — and for the series being so darn exciting — I give you this YouTube video featuring the highlights of that seven-game roller coaster:

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The Suns also appear twice on the list of teams who have lost a series after taking a 3-1 lead.

They blew a 3-1 lead to the 1995 Rockets that culminated with Mario Elie’s Kiss of Death in a year Houston won it all. The 1970 Suns also lost the same lead to the Lakers in the Western semis during a year in which Los Angeles lost to the Knicks in the Finals in the Willis Reed Game.

PHOENIX — Last night in Denver the Suns gave away a game that Steve Nash described as “heartbreaking.”

He proceeded to tweet that he’s going to count to 10 presumably to try to get over the defeat but that it frankly did not help much. The Suns had reason to be upset as they coughed up a late five-point lead and did not score for the final three minutes in a critical loss that dropped their Hollinger Playoff Odds from 39.0 percent to 24.3 percent.

Yet one day later while playing their fourth game in five days, the Suns were all smiles after blowing out the Kobe-less Los Angeles Lakers, 125-105.

Michael Redd could not stop talking about how much fun he was having during his postgame interview and Alvin Gentry echoed that sentiment by starting his press conference by saying, “Well that was fun.”

We have not heard those words uttered after a Lakers game too many times in recent years, yet even with Bryant sitting out with a shin injury this game was nothing but utterly satisfying for the Phoenix side.

Although the starters have carried the Suns most of the season, as has been the case lately it was the suddenly dynamic reserve unit that won the game tonight.

The bench exploded for a season-high 38 points in the second period to turn an eight-point deficit into a five-point lead as the reserves played the entire quarter. Michael Redd caught fire once again on his way to tallying 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, and Sebastian Telfair adeptly controlled the offense while scoring 13 points and dishing four assists.

Sure, it certainly helped that the Lakers don’t possess much of a bench, but this unit is really coming together nicely. Just like the vaunted 2010 bench everybody knows their role and executes it to perfection.

For the game the Suns reserves outscored their Los Angeles counterparts 48-10 as Phoenix’s bench enjoyed its second-highest scoring game of the season (and the other came in an early blowout loss). More importantly in the 18 minutes this unit shared the court together the Suns outscored the Lakers by 28 points per 100 possessions.

“I was most proud of that second unit that came in because they’ve kind of had their ups and downs, but I thought they did a great job,” Gentry said. “Collectively as a unit I thought they did a really good job. When they went in the game that’s when the energy level really went up and the intensity really went up. I think we kept it there until the end.”

Redd continually tried to deflect the credit coming his way, saying he’s just taking advantage of an opportunity that arose with the Hill injury, but he’s really been the key to the bench’s revival. He’s averaging 18.3 points per game during Phoenix’s past four contests (scoring at least 15 in each of them) after tonight’s 23-point outing, and he has caught fire for a stretch in every one of them.

The Suns have lacked scoring off the bench all season, so the unit completely changes when he provides a consistent threat.

“He’s turning a corner,” Nash said. “We’re seeing more consistent basketball out of Mike because his body has been getting better and better, so I just feel excited for him that he feels better every night and he can do the things he’s accustomed to doing. What a player, you can see the runs that he can go on.”

Added Gentry, “Anybody in here has seen that before. It’s not something that we haven’t seen. Once he gets going he’s pretty tough. Our guys did a really good job tonight of understanding who had the hot hand, and we found them.”

In saying that Gentry was also speaking about Shannon Brown, who took the torch from Redd and burned white hot throughout his 20-point third quarter outburst in which he nailed 8-of-12 shots and 4-of-6 treys.

Along with the help of seven Nash assists in the quarter, the Suns followed up their season-high second quarter effort by scoring a season-high 37 points in the third quarter to turn this one into a rout.

Brown told Redd he was inspired by the veteran’s hot stretch and then went out and did him three points better.

“It got me going, it got me excited,” Brown said. “Every time he shot the ball they had to fix the net. I came out in the second half, got it going.”

The Suns were so busy scoring they barely had time to turn the ball over and thus they set a franchise record by committing just three turnovers the entire game, breaking a mark set on Jan. 17, 1995, against Denver.

That’s even more impressive considering Phoenix played a quick pace at 97 possessions and raced out to 22 fast-break points without hardly turning the ball over at all.

When you combine the torrid stretches from Redd and Brown with a pair of season-high quarters and mix in a great job of taking care of the ball you get a season-high 125 points in a game in which Phoenix outscored the Lakers 101-73 in the final three quarters.

The Suns hung an offensive rating of 128.5 on the Lakers behind a scorching 60.5 true shooting performance thanks to a 14-for-29 effort from behind the three-point line.

Any way you slice it, the Suns’ offense decimated the Lakers with one of their strongest performances of the season.

“We did a really good job of playing an up-tempo game but not overdoing it and taking the shots that were available,” Gentry said. “I thought we did a great job with the turnovers.”

Obviously this would have been a completely different game if Kobe Bean Bryant suited up, but as things were the Lakers countered the Suns’ potent attack with Gasol and Bynum but not much else aside from Metta World Peace, who had a nice game with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Gasol and Bynum combined for 53 points and 31 rebounds while attempting 52 shots (that would never happen with Kobe around), and they led the Lakers’ domination on the glass (20 offensive rebounds, 54-36 overall edge and Phoenix’s biggest blemish of the evening). But they weren’t quite efficient enough to keep pace with the Suns’ attack.

With Denver losing tonight at Golden State, the Suns now enter the final 10 games of the season just one game out of a playoff spot.

If they can get anywhere near this kind of contribution from the bench it’s not a stretch to think Phoenix can crash the playoff party after the Suns played a superb final three quarters to throttle the Lakers.

“It was a really good win for us,” Gentry said. “It was a much-needed win.”

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• Before the game Gentry said that Grant Hill is “making great progress” in his rehabilitation from meniscus surgery. The Suns won’t rush him, but Gentry said the team may get him back for the season’s final five games.
• Days after my feature on the Suns’ special training staff, Gentry paid them another compliment while answering a question about whether he felt Redd would be this effective this season. “Once again, I think our medical staff can make anyone healthy enough to play,” he said. “Really, the guys that we have here, our medical staff, they’re the greatest.”
• Redd on tonight’s stellar outing: “I’ve been doing that for the last eight, nine years of my career. It’s always an honor to be in that zone and play like that. … I’m rolling right now. I’m accustomed to being in that position.”
• It’s hard to believe after the way the Suns dominated the final three periods, but they actually trailed by double digits (26-16) with two minutes left in the first quarter. That means the Suns have now won seven of eight home games in which they trailed by double digits and eight of 13 overall. They also own the second most double-digit comebacks in the league behind only Oklahoma City, eight of which have come since March 1, and that also means the Suns outscored the Lakers 109-79 thereafter.
• The Suns have now won consecutive regular season games against the Lakers for the first time since 2006-07, which is also the last time they split a season series against Los Angeles.

Statistical support for this story from NBA.com.

Lakers

Suns

Just over a week ago when the Phoenix Suns were sitting at 25-26 and two games back of the No. 8 seed, head coach Alvin Gentry made it clear that his team needed to treat every game like the playoffs.

After collapsing down the stretch against the Nuggets in a crucial loss on Friday night, every contest now becomes Game 7. While the Suns still have 11 games to work with, it’s do or die time for Phoenix.

Currently in 10th place in the Western Conference the Suns are half a game back of the ninth-place Jazz and two games back of both the Rockets and Nuggets, who sit in seventh and eighth, respectively.

Phoenix will get the Jazz and Nuggets once more this season, but those games may not matter if the Suns can’t knock off the Lakers tonight in US Airways Center.

Tired legs and mental fatigue will be tested, as both teams are on the tail end of a back-to-back and playing their fourth game in five nights. Like the Suns, the Lakers are fresh off of a loss as they fell victim to the Houston Rockets and Goran Dragic’s 26 points and 11 assists last night in Los Angeles.

While the Lakers lead the season series 2-1 and are the clear favorite, the Suns are no stranger to beating Kobe Bryant and company with their backs against the wall to kickstart a big win streak.

The Suns defeated the Lakers 102-90 at home in their last meeting in a game that Gentry and players alike have said is the game that turned the season around.

Phoenix was 12-19 headed into that contest and the thought of the playoffs seemed laughable. But the Suns rode 25 points from Jared Dudley and 21 and 15 from Marcin Gortat to victory lane.

They went on to win 10 of their next 13 games and sneak into the playoff picture. If the Suns want to be playing in May, they’ll have to do the same thing against the Lakers tonight.

While the Lakers are winners of four of their last five, they haven’t exactly been the model of consistency. Andrew Bynum continued to flash his immaturity as he was ejected in the first minute of last night’s fourth quarter.

The Lakers blew an 11-point second-half lead and were outscored 62-48 in the second half. They’re also playing their sixth game in eight nights, making them that much more vulnerable.

But this is still Kobe Bryant against the Phoenix Suns. He’s averaging 38.7 points per game against the Suns this season, his highest average against any team in the NBA that he’s faced more than once.

The absence of defensive stopper Grant Hill will be as apparent as ever, leaving it up to Jared Dudley and little brother Shannon Brown to check Kobe.

But Kobe’s expected to get his. If the Suns can slow down Bynum and Pau Gasol they could very well avenge last night’s loss and keep their playoff hopes alive.

UPDATE: Kobe out with shin injury

So much for the question of how the Suns will defend Kobe without Hill as Bryant will miss the game with a shin injury, and Devin Ebanks will start in his place. I doubt Gentry is too bummed about that news.

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Schwartz stopped over at Land O’Lakers to answer a few questions about tonight’s matchup. Check out the article here.

PHOENIX — Close your eyes and you could almost imagine being transported back to 2010, a better time for this franchise when a home game against the Lakers meant a battle between powerhouses.

For one of the first times this season, a special electricity ran through US Airways Center with a flock of Lakers fans in attendance bringing out the best in the Suns fans in the stands and the Suns on the floor as well.

“It was motivating seeing all the Lakers fans out on our home court,” Channing Frye said. “I felt like our fans came out tonight, and we wanted to really take it to their fans and make sure we got back that loss.”

After the Lakers looked like men amongst boys Friday night against this Suns squad in Staples Center, as Mike Schmitz put it, the Suns blitzkrieged the Lakers by playing with the rhythm and effectiveness of Nash’s best teams during a near perfect first quarter before hanging on for a 102-90 victory that snapped a four-game losing streak.

That quarter perhaps represents the peak for this Suns team as they did nearly everything right. That entailed shooting 56 percent, committing just two turnovers, limiting the Lakers to one offensive board, running to eight fast break point and having Nash dissect Los Angeles for seven assists and Marcin Gortat dominate for nine points and nine boards (as many as the Lakers as a team) while setting a season high in first quarter points.

There was already a definitive feel in the air that this was a big game, something often experienced during the Suns’ heyday, and the vintage first quarter only continued the party.

“I thought our ball movement in the first quarter was great and the execution was really good,” said head coach Alvin Gentry. “I thought the defensive execution was even better. It just was a really good win.”

The Lakers, of course, made a run after the Suns led by as many as 27 early in the second half and then 26 with 5:16 remaining in the third, getting it all the way down to 10 with 4:21 remaining on a couple Kobe free throws as many in the Suns section of the crowd likely began to wonder if this would be the Suns’ worst collapse yet. But despite 20 second-half points and four assists from Bryant, Los Angeles never reduced the lead to single digits.

As always when these teams lace them up, the Suns’ defensive game plan centered around Bryant. After watching the man who hates them pick them apart for 48 and 36 points in their first two matchups, the Suns sent hard doubles from different angles to “limit” him to 32 points to go with his seven boards and five assists. Yet there was an ugly “10” in the turnover line, one fewer than the Suns as a team.

“He gets pretty determined to score and we decided to be just as determined to make it difficult for him,” Nash said. “We tried to make him shoot over two guys and pass the ball. I thought guys were really aggressive. Grant does a great job, he’s really solid. You can never stop Kobe, but he does a good job of just being there every time and if he makes shots, he makes shots, but it’s tough when you’ve got Grant right in your face every play.”

Added Hill, “He still scored above his average. One of these days I’ll try to keep him under his average.”

That’s OK when he needs 24 shots to get his 32 points and when they are coupled with the double-figure turnover numbers.

It’s also fine when Bynum (16 and 10) and Gasol (17 and 12) are held in check and the Lakers get seldom any production from anyone else. Their other starters combined for a mere two points and their bench contributed just 23, led by Troy Murphy’s eight. When it’s the Kobe Show and he’s barely above his league-leading average, you’re probably going to win the game.

Meanwhile, Marcin Gortat continued his dominance of the Lakers with his second straight 20-15 game against them his weekend (he finished with 21 and 15). The Polish Hammer is now averaging 19.3 points and 14.3 boards against Los Angeles’ vaunted front line, and only Dwight Howard, Kevin Love and DeMarcus Cousins own more 20-15 games than Gortat’s three for the season.

In all five Suns scored in double figures, but Nash wasn’t one of them, as he tallied just eight to go with his 14 assists to raise his assist average above 11.0 for the first time this year.

Dudley led that crew with 25 on 9-for-15 shooting, with perhaps his biggest bucket coming after the Lakers cut the lead to 10 with 4:39 left when he nailed a jumper in Gasol’s face off a switch. It was just his third isolation bucket of the season, per mySynergySports, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“For this team to be successful we’ve got to have four or five guys in double figures, it can’t just be two or three guys,” said Dudley, noting Nash and Gortat always get theirs but they need help. “Early on I had it going. I think we all just fed off each other.”

In all the Suns played like a playoff team tonight in front of a playoff crowd, particularly during the first quarter that for my money was their best 12 minutes of the season. If they could bottle that performance there’s no telling the kind of damage they could do with tonight starting a stretch of 12 of 14 home games.

Gentry was asked if he ever watches a quarter like that and says to himself, “Why can’t we do that all the time?”

His response: “Every single night. Me and 29 other coaches.”

Yet more often Gentry is resigned to discussing blown leads or defensive rebounding or turnovers or miserable bench play or any of the myriad topics he has often discussed in postgame interviews this season with Phoenix still six games under .500 after this win.

“I think we’ve shown we can be good, we just have to kind of remind ourselves of the formula,” Hill said. “It’s coming out with energy, playing hard and competing. When we do that — we did it tonight — we’re really good, and when we don’t we’re really bad.”

The Suns have been really bad far more often than they’ve been really good, but at least for one night they followed Hill’s formula to earn the kind of win that must have reminded Phoenix’s faithful of better times.

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• Gentry credited Rita Garvin, wife of vice chairman Sam Garvin, for pointing out that the Suns play well whenever he wears his glasses, as he did Sunday night. “I will never have a game where I will not wear my glasses anymore,” Gentry said. “I’m going to keep them on.”
• Hill on Kobe: “He just seems to get up for the Suns. I don’t know what the Suns did years back in the playoffs, but I wasn’t here then.”
• Gentry tightened up Phoenix’s rotation with Gortat playing 41:50, Nash 36:30, Hill 35:31 and Dudley 34:25. Markieff Morris was the only reserve to play over 14 minutes, Robin Lopez played just five and Josh Childress, Ronnie Price and Hakim Warrick all earned DNP-CDs. You think he wanted to win this game?
• Many Suns players pointed to the fact that the team committed just 11 turnovers after coughing it up 15 times in the first half alone on Friday night as the difference between the two games. … The Suns had lost four straight games to the Lakers, including three in a row at home in the regular season. … With eight games of at least 14 assists, Nash has twice the number of any other player. … Phoenix recorded a season-high-tying 21 fast-break points.

Lakers

Suns

The Phoenix Suns lately haven’t had a tad bit of the Los Angeles Lakers’  Kryptonite.

The Lakers’ size is too much to handle, their firepower too much to overcome and even when things aren’t going right, stopping Kobe Bryant has been impossible for Phoenix, who has lost to the Lakers in four consecutive meetings.

Facing them for the second time in three nights doesn’t lend much evidence that anything will change tonight, when Phoenix hosts LA in US Airways Center, but let’s paint a perfect scenario that might give the Suns a chance to pull off an impressive upset.

First, however, we must analyze what happened on Friday night, when Los Angeles blew out Phoenix 111-99 in Staples Center. That one came as every problem the Suns have with the Lakers — and arguably every problem they have themselves — came to a head.

Allowing the Lakers to shoot 53.1 percent, the Suns were clearly at their mercy, as the Los Angeles offense set itself up for good look after good look at the bucket. But pointing to the inside presence of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol isn’t necessarily the reason — at least not directly. The duo shot 11-for-26 from the floor, not bad by any stretch, but also not the most dominating of performances.

Instead, it was Bryant and bench-igniting former Sun Matt Barnes who took advantage of poor interior defense. Bryant was 10-of-14 from the rim to nine feet out, while Barnes went 5-for-5 in that same range, according to HoopData.com.

Bryant attempted 11 shots outside that range, only hitting four en route to 36 points in 35 minutes played. He went 7-for-9 from the foul line, just two makes short of Phoenix’s 9-for-13 overall free throw shooting for the game.

So as the Los Angeles offense that’s ranked 15th in the NBA in offensive rating revolves around Bryant, it’s important to realize that the Suns allowed that offense to work ever-efficiently.

Meanwhile, the Lakers forced the Suns into 15 more three-point attempts. Where’d those 15 shots end up on Los Angeles’ end? In the 3-9 foot shooting range, where Phoenix went 0-for-6 and Los Angeles shot 13-of-21.

For the Suns, all of that is cause for concern. How can they turn things around?

Three keys for Phoenix

Crowd the paint. There’s no excuse to give Kobe Bryant any amount of air space on the perimeter. Even if you’re in his grill, the Black Mamba can still get off a shot, but considering he’s been blowing by Suns defenders and getting into the paint, perhaps it’s time to bait him into some long jumpers. He’s gotten better at it through the years, but there’s still an itch to toss up an off-rhythm jumper early in the shot clock.

It’s not a good idea to lay completely off of him, obviously, so Phoenix must rely on help defense behind guys like Grant Hill. But since Bryant is likely smart enough to dump it off to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol should help from Phoenix’s big men arrive, it’s especially important Phoenix’s guards and wings are ready to help and at the very least, get their hands in Bryant’s face and into the passing lanes once they collapse.

Give Morris the rock. The Suns don’t have the manpower to beat the Lakers off the dribble and attack their big men with much success. With few paint opportunities in the last game outside of Nash finding Marcin Gortat for layups, they need a new strategy. Rookie forward Markieff Morris, who scored 14 points in 24 minutes against the Lakers on Saturday, might be the answer. His developing post game at least gives Phoenix a way to soundly challenge Gasol and Bynum, and getting even one of them in foul trouble could go a long way.

Use the fouls. Old-school in thought but always effective, laying down the lumber  – legally and safely, mind you — as opponents attack the bucket can send a message. The Suns’ just might be one of the softer teams in the league because of their phobia of fouling with purpose, and the thought here is that’s a correlation with their poor defense in the paint. Especially with two viable centers on the roster, Phoenix has enough fouls to make the Lakers think twice about chugging down the lane. If they realize it and are aggressive in stopping drives, maybe a couple inside attempts for Los Angeles don’t fall.

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Bob Young of The Arizona Republic searches for the reason Kobe Bryant really, really hates Phoenix.

Kobe Bryant went off for 36 while the Suns stood and watched. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

For the Phoenix Suns and their limited roster to hang with Western Conference playoff teams, they need to be nearly flawless in all aspects of the game.

Shots have to fall, defensive rotations must be crisp, and Suns bigs need to keep the opposition off the glass while anchoring the paint defensively.

Phoenix did none of that on Friday night in Los Angeles and it resulted in a 111-99 loss to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, the Suns’ 10th loss in their last 11 games in Staples Center.

Although Phoenix showed fight in erasing a 20-point second-half deficit to cut the Los Angeles lead to 95-90 with 4:28 remaining, the Lakers thoroughly dominated the Suns in every aspect of the game.

They out-rebounded the Suns 52-36, made 53.0 percent of their shots to Phoenix’s 45.6, shot at a 45.5 percent clip from distance to the Suns’ 30.8 percent mark, and scored a season-high 54 points in the paint to Phoenix’s 38.

Oh yeah, then there’s that Kobe Bryant fellow. The Black Mamba once again torched the Suns, this time for 36 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals with half of his points coming in the third quarter when the Lakers ran away with it.

Until Kobe took over, the Suns looked like they could hang with the Lakers. They jumped out to a 25-21 lead at the end of the first quarter and were knotted up at 48 with just over two minutes remaining in the half.

But the Lakers sprinted into the locker room on a 9-0 run as the Suns turned the ball over three times and missed both of their shots in the final 2:02 to trail 57-48 at halftime.

Even after the Laker spurt, the Suns still had to be encouraged at halftime. They were shooting 51.2 percent from the field, Marcin Gortat had 14 and 9, Bryant was on pace for his season average with 14 and the Suns were out-rebounding the NBA’s biggest team, 20-18.

Soon enough, however, it became clear the Suns’ play was only a mirage and the Lakers looked like men amongst boys. Phoenix’s patented inconsistency kicked in and the Lakers exploded in the third quarter while the Suns’ offense stalled.

With Phoenix trailing 65-61 and 9:15 left in the quarter, the Suns missed 13 of their next 14 shots and the Lakers lead quickly ballooned to 20 with 47 ticks left in the third.

The Suns settled for jump shot after jump shot while Bryant caught fire. Channing Frye, who has often been Phoenix’s barometer for success, missed four jumpers during that stretch and the Suns’ offense had no rhythm.

Behind nine fourth-quarter points and a monster tip-slam from former Laker Shannon Brown, the Suns cut the Lakers lead to five with 4:28 remaining. But Los Angeles scored on three of its next four possessions, while Phoenix missed its next three shots. Bryant and company built their lead back to 101-90 and there was no more light at the end of the tunnel for the Suns.

It would be easy to beat the Suns up for poor execution, bad defense or 15 first-half turnovers. But the fact of the matter is, the Suns have no business hanging with the Lakers, or any team of that caliber, on a consistent basis.

The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, the Suns don’t. Mike Brown has two seven-footers in his starting lineup, Alvin Gentry has Gortat and a 6-foot-11 two guard in Frye. The only way for the Suns to win games like this is to catch Bryant on a bad shooting night and drop in a barrage of three-pointers.

Kobe went off, and the Suns made only 8-of-24 threes. Game, set, match. Falling to the Lakers on the road shouldn’t come as a surprise for the Suns, and offensive lulls are standard procedure by now.

But to allow an offensively-challenged Lakers team to score a season-high 111 points — only their fourth time over the century mark all season — is alarming. To let the often-criticized Lakers reserves shoot 9-for-11 from the field for 21 points in the first half is nothing to be proud of.

The Suns have now allowed their last four opponents to surpass the century mark and it’s no coincidence they have come up empty handed in every game. In a season full of inconsistency, the one aspect of the Suns’ game that had remained constant — defense — is now missing in action.

Phoenix moved to 12-19 with the loss and it won’t get any easier as the Suns host the Lakers on Sunday. Unless the Suns swing a blockbuster trade in the next 48 hours, Sunday could be much of the same for a floundering Suns team.

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• Hidden in the Suns’ struggles was Gortat’s huge night on his 28th birthday. The Polish Hammer went for 21 points and 16 rebounds in 42 minutes against arguably the best front line in the NBA. Much of that was a product of Steve Nash’s 17 assists, but Gortat was stellar nonetheless.
• Brown played arguably his best game as a Sun as he scored 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting in 20 second-half minutes. After Grant Hill picked up his fourth foul with 8:00 left in the third, Brown came in to try and check Bryant and didn’t leave the floor for the rest of the game. Brown hadn’t played in six of the Suns’ last seven games entering Friday’s game, but he proved to be one of the few bright spots against the Lakers.

Suns

Lakers

PHOENIX – Fresh off a disastrous start to their week with three losses in three days — two in games Phoenix held double-digit second-half leads — the week gets no easier as the Suns open a home-and-home series with the Los Angeles Lakers tonight in Staples Center.

The Lakers — who have won three in a row and 11 of 14 overall against the Suns — have been a dominant home team this season, winning 12 of 14 on their home floor.  They recently split their Grammy’s road trip with a 3-3 mark before taking care of Atlanta on Tuesday, their only game in a span in which Phoenix played three.

The Suns, meanwhile, have lost four of five after winning four of five to fall a season-high six games below .500 for the fourth time this season.

“It’s going to be a tough weekend for us,” said Suns guard Steve Nash. “The Lakers are a very talented team with a lot of experience, but it’s a great opportunity, too. We’ve had a lot of disappointments lately. If we can turn that around maybe that will give us some confidence to go from here and get ourselves back in the hunt.”

Nash is ever the optimist and at this point what other choice does he have? He must know the Suns could be staring at a record eight games under .500 without pulling out one of these Lakers games, which would pretty much bury this team by the All-Star break.

The Lakers boast practically no depth, but that doesn’t make stopping their three stars any easier. Pau Gasol (16.8, 10.6) and Andrew Bynum (16.3, 12.6) are beasts, but Los Angeles’ next leading scorer is Matt Barnes all the way down at 7.0 a game. The top three Lakers own PERs over 21 but after Barnes’ 13.9 nobody is over 10.5, which is why Los Angeles leads John Hollinger’s team BAD rankings, a figure that calculates how much time a team gives to subpar players.

Yet the Lakers are still a contender in the West because Kobe Bryant (along with the Gasol/Bynum duo) has been that good. After seemingly declining last season, Bryant is enjoying a typical Kobe season of 28.7 points (which leads the league), 5.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game despite a recent mini-slump in February.  His PER of 24.19 ranks eighth in the NBA, just behind Jeremy Lin.

The Suns are quite familiar with the man who still hates them. He poured in a season-high 48 points on 18-for-31 shooting last time these teams met on Jan. 10 when the Lakers turned a nail biter into a laugher in the final six minutes, and after that virtuoso performance Jared Dudley said the Suns must send more double teams to slow him down.

“No one man can slow down Kobe Bryant,” Dudley said. “Sometimes two can’t. Once you double him and the shot goes up it’s getting those two big trees Gasol and Bynum off the boards. The rebound battle just like most games is going to be key for us if we want to have a chance to win.”

The Suns must do exactly that to prevent this terrible week from crippling their season right when Phoenix had seemed to finally find itself.

Shaq picks Morris in rookie/sophomore game draft

Markieff Morris will play for Team Shaq in the Rising Stars Challenge after the former Suns big man selected him with his fifth pick in last night’s draft.

Morris will join a star-studded roster that also features Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio, Linsanity and Greg Monroe.

“He’s a three-point shooter, he’s a forward, he’s got inside/outside game, he’s been playing well for those Phoenix Suns,” TNT’s Kenny Smith said.

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Robert Sarver and Lon Babby laid out their plan to The Arizona Republic’s Paola Boivin by reiterating more of what we already know. Per the article:

» Steve Nash isn’t going anywhere, unless he chooses to leave.

» The organization has no interest in a full-scale “blowing up” of the team, because its research shows that process can take from eight to 10 years and it has no interest in waiting that long.

» It believes a return to being an elite team will come from better drafting, wise personnel moves via trades and free agency, and taking advantage of the significant amount of salary-cap space it will have available next season.

“Our goal is to transition back to elite status,” Sarver said, “and to get there sooner than later.”

It’s difficult to see how the Suns will go from A to B considering their current status and the Suns’ commitment not to trade Nash unless he asks for one. Yes, it will take all of the components laid out above, but it’s going to take years of many good decisions and a lot of luck to get there as well. …

David Thorpe on Morris: “Channing Frye is soaking up the minutes Morris needs to develop fully. But make no mistake, Morris has already proved to be a long-term NBA player thanks to his toughness and 3-point shooting.”

Ryan Weisert: Since it would be far too broad a question to ask “What’s wrong with Metta World Peace?” I’ll just ask  what seems to be wrong with him on the court?

Brian Kamenetzky: In the simplest terms, he’s just not the athlete he once was. He doesn’t have the lift or the first step or dexterity, particularly on offense. He struggles to get off the ground. It didn’t help that MWP showed up to camp overweight, and has been trying to play his way into shape. To some degree, it’s been effective, because World Peace’s body is finally getting where it needs to be, and it’s led to better results on the floor. Not so much offensively, where it’s still very much a hit or miss (mostly miss) thing, but on the other end. There have been more of those games where World Peace has a noticeable impact. He shut down Danilo Gallinari in Denver, Paul Pierce in Boston, and did good work against Joe Johnson the other night. He’s still not the true lockdown guy he once was on a possession to possession basis, but can still be a positive force.

Unfortunately for the Lakers it really does appear his days as a truly effective two-way player are over. It’s at the point now that we all notice when he does stuff well, because it’s not the norm. That’s an ugly place for an athlete to be. Still, if he can be neutral in his impact, it will make the Lakers a better team going forward because to this point Metta has been a liability.

RW: Can the Lakers contend for the title? Do they need to make a move before the deadline? If so, what is their greatest need?

BK: As constructed, they can’t. They absolutely need to upgrade, starting with finding another ball handler to take the pressure off Kobe Bryant. I hesitate to say they need a point guard specifically (though that would certainly be nice) because that skill set would help them anywhere on the roster. From there, the Lakers need another guy who can create off the dribble, capable of producing shots for himself and others, and some reliable bench scoring. A couple of these needs can be filled by the same guy, if need be. The Lakers don’t need a massive upgrade, particularly at the top of the roster. Spots 1-3 are in great shape, with Kobe, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum. It’s slots 4-14 that are problematic.

RW: Is there anyone on the Lakers’ roster poised to break out and have a big impact on the second half of the season?

BK: Nobody I’d point to with confidence. Steve Blake has made an impact since returning from injury, and having him around for the rest of the year will make them better. But if he plays up to his level, that level is still Steve Blake. Maybe Andrew Goudelock continues his production, which has been a surprise. Maybe Josh McRoberts, currently out of the rotation, works his way back in. Beyond that? I’m not putting my money on Metta or Derek Fisher, and there’s definitely a concern the Lakers and Mike Brown could burn through the energy of Kobe, Bynum, and Pau before the playoffs arrive. Those guys are doing some serious heavy lifting right now.

You can check out our Suns Q&A with Brian here.