I looked at every possession, both offensively and defensively, to get a better look at what led to Phoenix’s demise. Here’s a play-by-play breakdown of how the Suns wilted under pressure in Staples Center and why that was the case:

Lakers lead 83-82 with the ball and 6:12 remaining

With the Suns scoring on three straight possessions to bring the Laker lead to one, they had a chance to get a stop and take the lead on the other end. But as seen above, Kobe uses his smarts to get Grant Hill in the air and draw the shooting foul that led to two free throws. Chalk this up as a veteran making a smart play even after Hill played solid defense until that point.

Suns trail 85-82 with the ball and 5:57 left

Here the Lakers do a terrific job getting the ball out of Nash’s hands in the pick and roll. They force him almost 30 feet from the hoop and the offense eventually breaks down, with Nash having to swing it to Hill in hopes that the 39-year-old can make a play.

This is the one moment where the Suns struggle most as they don’t have anyone to go create his own shot. Hill ends up losing the ball before regaining it and missing a fading jumper. Marcin Gortat grabs the offensive rebound and kicks it to Nash, but Shannon Brown jacks up a 28-footer with 21 seconds still on the shot clock.

Phoenix can’t settle for shots like that, especially with such an erratic shooter like Brown. This possession was a huge missed opportunity and a product of a missing go-to-guy and unintelligent play by Brown.

Lakers lead 85-82 with 5:25 remaining and the ball

This is inexcusable defense by Hill and Gortat. Gasol sets a back screen for Kobe and Gortat and Hill fail to communicate, as Hill tries to go high-side on the screen while Gortat simply watches. Gortat needed to disrupt Kobe’s rhythm or help out, and Hill also needed to be more aware, but instead the Lakers pushed their lead to five.

Suns trail 87-82 with the ball and 5:09 left

Here Nash has a great look at a three to cut the deficit to two. He drills this shot probably seven times out of 10 but hits the back iron here. No problems with offensive flow there, just a missed shot that should have been made.

Lakers lead 87-82 with the ball and 4:56 remaining

This is actually a solid defensive possession from the Suns. Hill does a great job running Kobe off of screens and denying the ball, Gasol just buries a clutch jumper. If you’re the Suns, you have to be happy with Gasol shooting a deep two with 16 seconds on the shot clock on a night when Kobe is unstoppable. Good defensive possession left unrewarded.

Suns trail 89-82 with the ball and 4:40 left 

The Suns do a decent job moving the ball on this possession, but it gets them nowhere. Nash should have waited longer to hit Gortat on the roll at the beginning of the possession and then Hill delivers a bad pass to Frye, that if it was on point, could have resulted in an open three.

Instead the Suns had to pull it back out and reset. Rather than setting the high screen with Gortat, Frye sets the pick and pops out, while Nash can’t shake Steve Blake and the possession ends with a Gortat 19-footer that barely grazes the rim. Again, the Suns had no one to create his own offense when the play broke down and it ended in an absolutely awful possession at a critical time.

Lakers lead 89-82 with the ball and 4:17 remaining

This may have been the Suns’ worst defensive possession of the game. Sure, Kobe simply beats Hill baseline, which will happen from time to time. But if you look closely, Gortat is completely out of position. His man is four passes away, but for some reason he felt the need to leave help position and stay close to Luke Walton, yes Luke Walton. Absolutely atrocious team defense.

Suns trail 91-82 with the ball and 3:56 left

This play exemplifies where Gortat needs to work on his game and Phoenix needs to change its philosophies. Gasol plays the pick and roll aggressively and pressures Nash, who dumps it off to an open Gortat about 15 feet from the hoop.

All Gortat has to beat is a rotating Matt Barnes. Here’s where Amare was so valuable. He’d put the ball on the floor and make the defender pay, or get to the hoop and finish with contact.

Gortat can’t exactly put the ball on the floor, and rather than settle for a mid-range jumper, he hits Hill in the corner and the veteran bricks a triple. The Suns need to find a way to turn Gortat’s opportunity into two points rather than relying on a three from a player who’s 1-for-14 on the year.

Lakers lead 91-82 with 3:36 left and the ball

This is vintage Suns, playing great defense for 24 seconds and then giving up an offensive rebound, to Walton of all people. Neither Jared Dudley, Channing Frye or Gortat put a body on Walton, who grabbed the board and kicked it out to Barnes, who found a wide open Kobe for the reverse dunk. Giving up an offensive rebound is the most deflating play in basketball, especially for a team desperate to find rhythm offensively.

Suns trail 93-82 with 3:03 left and the ball

Hill makes a great individual play by crossing over and getting to the hoop but instead of going up with the ball on the front side, he tries to go reverse and misses a wide open layup. It was that kind of a night for Hill. Just when it looked like the Suns found someone who could make a play, he botched the layup.

Lakers lead 93-82 with the ball and 2:49 left

This is what the Suns should have been doing minutes earlier. With Kobe isolating against Hill, the Suns ran Jared Dudley at Kobe with the shot clock winding down, forcing Bryant to drive baseline.

Frye rotates over along the baseline and forces Kobe to give it up to Gasol with too little time on the shot clock for the Spaniard to make a play. If the Suns employed that strategy with six minutes to go, it may have been a different ball game.

Suns trail 93-82 with the ball and 2:19 left

This is another example of Gortat not being aggressive enough with the ball. Nash finds him barreling down the lane and Barnes steps over to help. Gortat could have easily gone hard to the hoop, tried to avoid Barnes and either head to the line for two or finish plus the foul.

Instead Gortat kicks it to Hill in the corner, who makes the right play by attacking Gasol’s poor closeout and getting to the line, where he hit 1-of-2. Smart play by Hill, but it should have been at least two for Gortat.

Lakers lead 93-83 with the ball and 2:10 left

The Suns allow Kobe to get exactly where he wants — the right elbow — for a routine (for Kobe) turnaround jumper. While most pros won’t make that look so easy, Kobe’s the best mid-range jump shooter in the game, especially with his back to the basket. Poor defense and recognition by the Suns.

The final two minutes were much of the same for the Suns. Kobe hit another jumper, the Suns allowed another offensive rebound, and Frye and Dudley each hoisted triples to no avail.

Final Take

The biggest problems I have with the Suns’ offensive execution is their reliance on the three ball, Gortat’s disappearance and 39-year-old Hill being essentially their go-to-guy.

Five of the Suns’ final nine shots came beyond the arc, with one coming from ice cold Hill and one from Brown. The only shot I would have lived with if I were a coach was Nash’s open triple off of the dribble, although he missed long.

Other than that the Suns settled for far too many low percentage threes. Overall, Phoenix’s offense consisted of Nash dribbling around for 15-18 seconds and the Suns jacking up a jumper or Hill failing to convert.

Speaking of Hill, it’s a major problem when a 39-year-old is taking three of Phoenix’s final nine shots, especially on a night where he missed his first eight attempts. What’s even more alarming is that Gortat’s only shot came on a 19-footer with the shot clock winding down.

The Suns rarely found him in the pick and roll or in the post, and when they did, he was reluctant to attack. Phoenix’s offense lacks spacing late in games against good defenses because teams simply key in on Nash and the Suns have no slashers, playmakers or post-up specialists.

Defensively, the Suns allowed Kobe to have his way. He scored 14 points in the final six minutes and every one of the Lakers’ nine final shots came inside 12 feet. Kobe caught the ball basically wherever he wanted and only once did the Suns throw a double team at him, and by that time it was too late.

In total, the Suns are never going to shut down Kobe or elite scorers late in games. But how they can hang around is by figuring out a way to utilize Nash, Gortat, Hill and the shooters surrounding them to create easy offense in crunch time.

If they can’t do that, this could be a long season.

Suns

Lakers

PHOENIX — It’s hard not to put much stock in tonight’s game between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers. But for the Suns, it’s simply another game — an opportunity to bridge an iffy start into a winning streak.

“I don’t think it means anything other than a chance to get over .500,” Phoenix point guard Steve Nash said. “I don’t think it’s any different than playing anybody else. If we stay over .500, we can stay in the playoff hunt.”

Despite the departure of head coach Phil Jackson, the more stable inhabitants of Staples Center return most of the core from a championship team of two years ago. Kobe Bryant has started off the season on a tear after undergoing a supposedly revolutionary knee surgery over the summer. The Black Mamba is averaging a disgusting 28 points, six points and six rebounds per game.

“I’d rather have Phil there and not Kobe,” Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said. “They’re still a great team. Mike Brown is a great coach, been to the finals. They still have Bynum and Gasol and Kobe, and you know, (Metta) World Peace. They’ve still got pretty much the core of a championship team.”

Bryant is still backed up by Pau Gasol, and it appears that center Andrew Bynum has taken over the No. 2 role on the Lakers by averaging 19 points and 16 rebounds a night.

For Phoenix, the 8:30 p.m. game in Staples will allude to how much and how well Gentry can make his team into a chameleon of sorts. He’s said that the rotations won’t be consistent from game-to-game, and who the Suns are matching up against could determine which players see floor time.

The duo of Gasol and Bynum will force Gentry to give Marcin Gortat and Robin Lopez heavy minutes. If Phoenix hopes to beat the best rebounding team in the league, Lopez will need to play like he did in the 2010 Western Conference Finals, and Gortat will need to keep up his solid play after getting the brace off of his broken thumb. They could even play at the same time, though Channing Frye finding his jumper against Milwaukee (16 points and 4-for-4 shooting from three-point range) might keep Phoenix in its usual lineups.

But the biggest development for Phoenix could be how the Elston Turner-concocted defense will operate behind Grant Hill in defending Bryant.

“I think we’re spending more time than we had in the past (on defense),” Nash said, “but I think we’re more detail-oriented in knowing exactly what’s expected of us.”

Because of Bryant, the Suns don’t expect the Lakers to be any less of a team than they were under Jackson. Even though Nash and crew simply want a victory, it will be a telling game of where Phoenix is and how far it may have to go.

“It’ll be a little bit of a different system,” said Gentry, who downplayed the Lakers’ more traditional offense. “They’re a team that’s going to be really hungry, you know, being swept by Dallas (last year in the playoffs) probably left a bad taste in their mouth.

“At the end of the day though, Kobe’s going to have the ball.” 

Brown returns to Lakerland

Suns guard Shannon Brown will return to Los Angeles for the first time, and it’ll likely be a trip down memory lane for the former Laker.

After struggling to find a fit with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Bobcats, Brown cemented himself as an NBA player with the Lakers.

“Being able to learn from the best coaches in the game, being able to learn and become close friends with one of the best to do it in the basketball game, I learned a lot,” Brown said. “I’m very appreciative of how it all happened, because when I got there that’s the first time I started to consistently get minutes.”

Of course, there’s always that risk that Laker fans could feel spurned by Brown leaving the organization. Is there a risk of being booed?

“If I’m gauging off of Twitter, I’m going to get a lot of boos,” Brown said. “But if I’m not gauging off of Twitter, I think for the most part, you know, I had great years there.”

Michael Schwartz: Andrew Bynum has been unstoppable to start the season. Do you see him making “The Leap” to NBA stardom this year?

Brian Kamenetzky: Well, Bynum got off to a monster start, averaging over 22 points and 17 boards in his first three games returning to the court following his suspension. Dude was a beast. In the fourth against Portland, Bynum hit all seven of his first half shots before tiring out in the third and fourth. Over his last two games, though, at least from a scoring standpoint Bynum has slowed down. Both the Warriors and Grizzlies double teamed him aggressively; something Bynum hasn’t seen much of over the course of his career.

There was definitely an impact.

In those games, he shot a combined 8-for-23, with nine turnovers. Talking with the coaching staff yesterday, they acknowledged the learning curve Bynum now faces as a feared offensive option. Teams just aren’t going to stand around and allow themselves to be obliterated. He’s a good passer, but still hasn’t learned the nuances of reading the double, or of ball positioning to avoid turnovers while he surveys the landscape.

The good news for the Lakers is, unlike years past, getting stuck offensively hasn’t hurt Bynum’s efforts on the glass. He averaged 15.5 rebounds against Golden State and Memphis. Overall, it’s a sign of growth and maturity in his game. I suspect once he learns to adjust to double teams and/or Mike Brown and company devise better ways to punish the opposition for sending them, his numbers will be impressive across the board.

There’s a reason he’s the only big widely viewed as good enough to build around in a Dwight Howard deal.

Of course, more than anything Bynum needs to stay healthy, which he’s never proven he can do.

BK: I do, in the sense that Gasol will likely see his shot totals go down as Bynum’s increase, because Kobe isn’t going to give any up. (Not that he won’t pass, because he does. He just won’t make a conscious effort to keep Gasol’s FGA’s around 15 or so.) Pau is the guy in that threesome most willing to give Bynum the space to become a scorer. It’s not an easy adjustment. Not that he’ll say it, but I don’t think he likes moving down in the pecking order, or Kobe’s recent inference he’s not a “natural scorer.” But something that has to be done or L.A.’s Big Three won’t be able to function.

He’ll still be used extensively as a facilitator, and without his intelligence and ball skills an already choppy offense might grind to a halt. In terms of scoring, it looks like Bynum will get more opportunities until opposing defenses force something else.

As for the post-trade attitude, basically take everything you’ve read about Lamar Odom and flip it on its head. Gasol has been steadfast in his desire to stay in L.A., and put the deal behind him. He didn’t want to go to Houston, so staying in Los Angeles, where he’s very happy and has built a life, is a nice deal.

BK: First, they’re more normal. Brown has none of Phil Jackson’s flash, and doesn’t pull the same types of strings with the media. Everything there now is far more conventional, from the offense to postgame media sessions. Brown has made a very positive impression on his players. Kobe admitted he expected Brown, based on what he’d heard, would amount to a pushover. That, he said, isn’t the case. Even better, Brown is an incredibly hard worker and completely prepared, both essential criteria for gaining Kobe’s respect.

Bryant has said he and the team want to win badly for Brown, because they can see the effort their coach puts in, and any concerns about how those two would mesh have been quickly set aside. Not to say they couldn’t come true, but for now it’s a non-issue.

From there, changes are more mundane. The triangle is gone, replaced by a more typical offense heavier in pick-and-roll sets (and probably would be more so if the Lakers were more adept at running it). They’re calling plays instead of making reads, and overall the aesthetics aren’t quite as appealing. They could be in time, but probably not until next season.

BK: Same way as always, I would think. Size. Lamar Odom isn’t around anymore to cause matchup problems, but even though it seems like the size quotient has improved with the Suns, if I’m the Lakers I still make Phoenix show it can guard Bynum, Gasol, and Kobe on the block. I think they might be able to account for one or two at a time, but not all three.

BK: Yes and no.

This question gets to perhaps the largest dilemma currently facing the Lakers from a  personnel standpoint. There is all at once a great push to win now, while Kobe is still Kobe, but also to acquire the big pieces for the future. It’s a tough needle to thread in the NBA, where generally teams have to deconstruct from era to era. For the Lakers to win now, they need another ball handling player who can create his own shot, plus an upgrade at point guard. Chris Paul would have solved both problems, and given the Lakers their next superstar, but we saw how that went.

Now the obsession is Dwight Howard, and while he’d definitely improve the Lakers if acquired for Bynum, if it costs Bynum and Gasol, something the Lakers say they won’t do (for now), I’m not at all convinced they’re a better team this season. Down the road, they’d have the league’s premier big man, a robot who never gets hurt and alters games defensively. Short term, it could be very costly.

The best path to a title now would be smaller, less dramatic moves aimed at building depth and patching holes in the roster. Doing that, though, likely takes them out of the Howard derby, given how little the Lakers have to work with in terms of trade chips.

Without some help, the Lakers can still reclaim the title, but the margin for error is incredibly thin, and they’d need a little luck. They’re still very good, but not OKC or Miami good.

On the Phoenix side, Shannon Brown will be making his first trip back to Los Angeles, where he won two championships, since signing as a free agent with the Suns this offseason. Here’s video of Kobe discussing the return of his “little brother” to Staples Center:

The lockout officially ended with the players and owners ratifying the new 10-year labor deal and a decent point guard with two first names made his way over to Los Angeles and then didn’t in a trade possibility that threatens to blow up Twitter.

Closer to home although not nearly as seismic, the Suns did most of their offseason shopping in one fell swoop by agreeing to terms with guards Shannon Brown and Sebastian Telfair. All that’s likely left on the Suns’ agenda is re-signing Grant Hill, and like the Western Conference in the middle of the last decade that race seems to have come down to the Suns and the Spurs, according to ESPN’s J.A. Adande.

Although the New York Post reported earlier that the Knicks were on the verge of landing Hill, Adande’s later report said the Knicks are out because they want to hoard their money in an attempt to woo Tyson Chandler.

The Spurs, meanwhile, could use a veteran small forward after using the amnesty clause to rid themselves of the final three years and $30 million of Richard Jefferson’s contract.

Adande reported that the Spurs are willing to give a second year to the 39-year-old Hill whereas the Suns won’t offer more than one year. However, The Arizona Republic reported that Phoenix is offering a sizable $5.5 million one-year salary, which is more than fair after Hill made a mere $10 million the last four years.

It would not make sense for a 40-year-old Hill to make a dent into the Suns’ 2012-13 cap space when they presumably will begin rebuilding in earnest with as much cap space as they can accrue. As is the theme with Brown and Telfair, the Suns seem to be willing to make moves to try to win with Nash this year but they will not budge when it comes to next year’s salary cap space.

It would be painful to Suns fans for Hill to go to San Antonio of all teams, but if we’ve learned anything today it’s that the NBA is a business.

As Hill told Paul Coro, he is not taking his free agent status lightly.

“Everything is compressed and rushed but this is a big decision,” Hill told Coro. “It’s probably my last decision so I’m going to make sure I think it through. Nothing’s new to report, despite what’s been reported elsewhere. I’m still trying to figure it out.

“It has not been an easy thing. I’ve got to make sure I’m comfortable with whatever decision it may be. I’m not comfortable right now.”

“Things have been overwhelming,” Hill added. “When I make a big decision, I’m very deliberate. The last week, I’ve been all over the place.”

As for the Paul trade, I don’t know what to think at this point. One minute the Lakers had secured the Western Conference All-Star team’s starting backcourt, the next minute it was off after a group of owners “protested vigorously.”

You might remember that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was incensed when the Hornets took back more money in the Marcus Thornton-Carl Landry trade last season since technically he was paying for his rival to improve with the league owning the Hornets.

“I don’t need to be competing economically with the league and myself,” Cuban said at the time.

Compared to the ramifications of a Chris Paul trade, that offense seems rather trivial, so it’s understandable why the league owners don’t want to set the Lakers up to be a dynasty for the next decade if they can improve their front court.

At the same time, this could deprive the Hornets of the best offer they are going to get for Paul. And wouldn’t this same uproar occur if CP3 was dealt to the Knicks or the Celtics or anyone really?

What a compelling saga, which promises many more twists and turns in the coming days.

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.

Marcin Gortat and the Phoenix Suns were done in once again by Kobe and the Lakers in heartbreaking fashion. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

There’s a reason they call this time of year March Madness.

The Suns and Lakers played a game as wild as anything we saw in the NCAA Tournament this weekend, with the Lakers finally prevailing 139-137 in triple overtime of a contest neither team deserved to lose.

In a game of twists and turns, this one turned definitively when Grant Hill fouled out with 2:18 remaining in the third overtime after committing his second foul of the possession in a span of 12 seconds defending Kobe Bryant with the Suns up two.

After a very physical trio of overtimes in which the refs really let both sides play, I was shocked that they would foul Hill out on a play with a minuscule bit of body contact that happens on every play that was followed by a Kobe dive into the baseline for dramatic effect.

In Hill’s latest All-Defensive team showing, the 38-year-old held Kobe to 1-for-8 shooting in the overtimes. Immediately upon Hill’s foul out Kobe drilled a three in Jared Dudley’s face that started a 7-0 Lakers run.

Hill’s foul out also put Vince Carter back on the floor, and after Channing Frye knocked down another three to cut the deficit to two, Carter missed a go-ahead three and Kobe slammed the door with a floater in transition, the kind of hero shot Bryant loves but one he should not have taken because otherwise the Suns would have been forced to foul and a miss would have put Phoenix back in position to steal the game.

It was the kind of play Henry Abbott was speaking about when he presented on how “Bad decisions in sports skew macho” at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference this month. The smart play would have been to wait for the foul, but Kobe skewed macho, and he’s just lucky the shot went it. Unless it’s a wide open layup teams just don’t shoot in those situations when they can run clock.

The NBA’s highest-scoring game this season started with a 66-60 first half highlighted by better than 50 percent shooting per side and a combined 29 three-point attempts.

But this old western shootout turned into a Lakers rout when Los Angeles opened the half on a 14-3 run to take a 17-point lead. It doesn’t seem possible considering the triple overtime outcome, but the lead ballooned to 21 points when Kobe knocked down a triple with 4:40 left in the third as the Suns had seemingly run out of gas after a solid first half.

Nash cut into that lead with three seemingly inconsequential three-pointers in a row as Phoenix closed the third on an 18-6 run to make the lead a manageable nine points.

The bench took it from there with an early 10-0 fourth-quarter run against Los Angeles’ reserves with that Laker killer Aaron Brooks responsible for seven of the points in that spurt.

The lead got pushed up to nine with 3:44 remaining, but three more threes from Nash, Frye and Hill, respectively, sent this one to overtime. Hill was the key guy on the tying possession, grabbing an offensive rebound off a Carter miss before spotting up in the corner for the tying long ball.

The Suns pulled a Houdini act to get out of the first overtime as well with Steve Nash of all people rebounding a Frye missed three and getting it back to him to draw a foul on Lamar Odom as he attempted another game-tying triple. Frye calmly stepped to the line and knocked down all three foul shots with a second remaining to send this thing to a second overtime.

With under a minute left and the Suns down one in double OT Nash made one of the more insane passes I’ve ever seen. With Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher trapping him along the sidelines, Nash flipped a behind-the-back, no-look pass to Gortat while he was falling out of bounds.

The degree of difficulty on the play is such that I’m not sure another player in the NBA makes that pass; it seemed he needed to call timeout or the Suns were headed to a sure turnover.

Instead Gortat drove to draw in the defense and had the presence of mind to dish it out to the red-hot Frye, who knocked down a three to put the Suns up two. After a stop the Suns had a possession to salt the game away but Nash could not convert on a driving layup (he felt he was fouled by Gasol) and then Pau drilled a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to tie things up once again.

The Suns had one more chance to win it, but they chose to make Dudley the triggerman instead of Hill with a play that went to Grant. However, the pass was a bit behind Hill and he could not recover to get a shot off in the 2.5 seconds that remained before the fateful triple overtime period.

In a game of this length, it’s no surprise that the final box score featured some video game numbers.

Steve Nash went for 19 points and 20 assists in almost 50 minutes of work, hitting his first five three-pointers. Channing Frye scored a career-high 32 points on 11-for-23 shooting (5-for-13 threes) in 57 minutes of action. Marcin Gortat logged 53 minutes off the bench, tossing up a 24-16, Vince Carter needed 23 shots (making seven of them) to get his 17 points and Hill put up a 11-10 to go with all his defense on Kobe.

Aaron Brooks continued to torch the Lakers with 15 points in 13:40 to earn point a minute man status and Mickael Pietrus nearly did as well with 11 in 12:37. Hakim Warrick played just 5:37 as he’s not a great matchup against LA.

On the flip side, Kobe produced a ho-hum 42 points, 12 boards and nine assists on 15-for-31 shooting, while Lamar Odom went for 29-16-5, Pau Gasol 24-13 and Artest 18-5. Derek Fisher missed all seven of his shots and managed just two points in over 46 minutes.

My biggest complaint for Gentry in this one involves playing Carter for 40 minutes, most critically from crunch time until midway through the second overtime. Carter missed a potential game-winner at the end of regulation and another one at the end of triple overtime, shots it would have been nice to see somebody else take.

The Suns lost 20 points in Carter’s 40 minutes, which by my math means they gained 20 points in the 23 minutes he sat. Plus/minus is incredibly variable, but that’s telling, especially when the next closest guy (Robin Lopez) lost just five points in 10 minutes. On the flip side the Suns gained 10 points in Dudley’s 30 minutes, a team high, and the non-Carter Suns shot 53 percent from the floor.

With the loss the Suns dropped three games behind Memphis but they showed off their propensity to put a scare into a contender if they do reach postseason play.

When the Suns’ shots are falling like this they are still a very dangerous team, and the fight needed to battle back from 21 down late in the third and continuously throughout the three overtimes made for an impressive showing of resilience.

The Suns did not deserve to lose possibly their most exciting game of the regular season, but when the buzzer finally sounded they could probably emphasize with some of the college teams that lost this weekend in similar heartbreaking fashion.

And 1

The Lakers were missing Andrew Bynum but this was a real solid showing against a Lakers squad that has now won 13 of 14 since the All-Star break. … Los Angeles had not allowed an opponent to reach the century mark in regulation since the All-Star break (the Suns scored 112 in regulation), and their defense had given up 87.9 points per game since the break before this one. … The Lakers had not won a triple overtime game since taking down the Philadelphia Warriors 151-147 on Dec. 8, 1961, according to ESPN Stats and Info. … The Lakers had never previously won a triple overtime game at home, and it was only their second such home game ever. … The Suns have lost four straight triple OT games dating back to 1997, with all four coming on the road. … Gortat helped the Suns stay close in the battle of the boards, losing it 56-52 after winning it 42-36 in regulation. The Lakers outrebounded them 49-32 during their last trip to Staples. … The Suns knocked down 17 threes after hitting a club record 22 in their last visit. … The Lakers scored nine points in each of the three overtime periods.

Suns

Lakers

The Phoenix Suns have gotten back to playing quality basketball with the returns of Steve Nash and Channing Frye, but we will find out tonight whether that return to form has stemmed largely from just playing the Clippers and Warriors after losing four in a row to winning teams.

That test will come in the form of a piping hot Lakers squad that has steamrolled the league to the tune of 12 wins in 13 games since their embarrassing loss in Cleveland. In that time the Lakers have lost just to a Miami team on the road that I hear has a star or two.

The Suns’ schedule the rest of the way will feature more teams like the Lakers than the Clippers, and they’re going to have to steal a couple of them to have a shot at the postseason.

One factor working in their favor is the suspension of Andrew Bynum, who has anchored the Lakers’ defense during their run by exploding for 12.3 points and 14.5 rebounds per game on 62.3 percent shooting in March.

I doubt Alvin Genty will be doing backflips over Bynum’s absence because it will just mean a heavier dose of Suns-killer Lamar Odom. Odom is averaging a 17.3-12.7-4.0 after killing them in the playoffs last year, and to Amare Stoudemire’s surprise there isn’t anything lucky about it.

The Suns’ best shot at pulling off an upset may just be to do what they did last time they faced the Lakers in Staples Center and that is to try to bludgeon them behind the arc. The Suns fell one shy of the NBA record for three-pointers in a game by drilling 22 of them in their 121-116 victory on Nov. 14 to win a game in which they got crushed on the boards 49-32 and allowed 68 points in the paint.

Aaron Brooks could play a factor in the outcome as he’s traditionally been a thorn in the Lakers’ side. This year he averaged 20.0 points and 8.5 dimes over two games while with the Rockets, and he went for 18.0 per game (including performances of 34 and 26 in Houston wins) during the teams’ 2008-09 playoff series.

Brooks is the kind of waterbug point guard who is a real tough matchup for the Lakers’ veteran point guards, so perhaps tonight could be the night for a breakout performance from him.

For more on the matchup, I exchanged e-mails with ESPNLA.com’s Andrew Kamenetzky. My responses can be found on Land O’ Lakers and Kamenetzky shares some knowledge on the Lakers below:

Schwartz: The Lakers suffered so many head-scratching losses earlier in the season that they seemed to be on cruise control until April. What changed for them since the loss in Cleveland that’s led to their run of 12 wins in 13 games?

Kamenetzky: It’s a combination of Andrew Bynum and renewed team-wide dedication. The impact of Bynum since the All-Star break, and especially throughout March, can’t be overstated. In eight games this month, he’s averaging 12.3 points on 62 percent shooting, 14.5 rebounds (5.3 on the offensive glass), and nearly three blocks. Plus, Bynum’s defensive presence is felt beyond the gaudy numbers. He’s altering shots left and right (even well outside the paint) and making the lane considerably less appealing to visit. Mistakes along the perimeter often get erased by virtue of him being on the court.

Sunday’s win over Portland was an excellent reminder of the kid’s value. The Lakers won the game, but were he not suspended (as he will be against Phoenix), victory would have come much easier.

Still, credit doesn’t belong solely to Drew. Ever since that wretched display in Cleveland, the Lakers as a unit have been considerably more focused and purposeful. The All-Star break provided necessary time away from the game, and everyone is hyper-aware of the playoffs approaching. Getting up for the regular season on a consistent basis hasn’t been easy, between the relative boredom of December/January ball compared to postseason action and the physical/mental toll of three straight trips to the Finals. But with the finish line in plain sight, they’re energized and attentive to the details. In particular, they’ve been outstanding defensively, allowing just one opponent 100 points since the break.

Schwartz: Ron Artest seems to have taken a real step backward this season. Is that just a function of the offense or do you seem him starting to decline? How has he handled this diminished role?

Kamenetzky: It’s hard to pin Ron’s struggles on one factor. At times, he’s seemed frustrated by his role on offense. Earlier in the season, he was often planted in a corner to spot up. While this assignment inspired the funniest flow chart in recent memory, it hasn’t necessarily inspired comfort or solid production. Beyond the low percentages, Artest was perpetually indecisive upon migrating from that space. Other times, Artest has been openly unsure of his role on either side of the ball. His early slump coincided with Matt Barnes’ surprisingly strong start, which meant the sub playing fourth quarter minutes typically reserved for Ron as the designated “stopper.” Artest was a good sport and supportive of Barnes, but this development only enhanced his uneasiness.

Plus, I think he perceived (accurately, I might add) fans were making him the chief whipping boy for the lackluster periods, which never feels great. I imagine this played a role in getting upset with Phil Jackson’s proclivity for tweaking him via the media. In Ron’s head, this probably felt like the coach piling on, even if that wasn’t PJ’s intention.

Others (in the media, if nothing else) have wondered if his mental health advocacy, while certainly noble, was causing a distraction. Or if not this endeavor, perhaps another. For example, tweeting about a mix tape dropping immediately following the disaster in Cleveland? Not the best way to come across as a competent multi-tasker.

In any event, the good news is that since the All-Star break, Ron’s been playing very well. His defense has been effective and, at times, downright suffocating. Offensively, he’s still not shooting at a high percentage, but his shot selection has been (generally speaking) better, along with his overall decisiveness. He’s doing more as a playmaker, which is reflected in his 2.6 assists per game in March, the best of his monthly splits. His spirits are visibly higher, which has resulted in some WWE-style antics such as flexing/kissing his biceps after good plays and trash talking Michael Beasley. (He literally chanted “airball” along with the Staples crowd after a whiff from Beas.) PJ wasn’t thrilled about the latter activity, but it’s certainly indicative of a guy having more fun.

Schwartz: With Lamar Odom starting in place of Andrew Bynum in this one, which Lakers reserve most needs to step up?

Kamenetzky: Steve Blake. His inaugural season has been largely anti-climactic, but he’s played better over the last few games. Blake’s always done a nice job keeping the second unit organized, but there’s been a frustrating reluctance to shoot and make himself generally more accountable as an offensive source. However, he’s scored nine points twice in the last four games (which, scarily, is on the decidedly high side), so perhaps the shell is cracking. Given that Aaron Brooks is a defensive liability, I’d love to see Blake attack the newest Sun.

At the very least, he needs to prevent Brooks, who’s hurt the Lakers in the past, from going nuts. Blake did a very nice job recently pestering Jason Terry, and has cranked up his activity on that side of the ball.

Schwartz: Who’s going to win?

Kamenetzky: The train, she keeps on rolling. Lakers 108, Suns 99.

PHOENIX — As the Phoenix Suns drift further and further below .500, they must take their positives where they can get them.

Although Wednesday’s 99-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers featured the same old lack of rebounding and lack of crunch time scoring, the Suns moved ever so close to figuring things out and scoring that much-needed quality win.

“Once again, I thought we played well,” said head coach Alvin Gentry. “We have nothing tangible to show for it, but I think over the long haul, it’s going to help us. I’m disappointed about the loss, but encouraged about what I see for our team, and what is going on with it.”

It’s now been two weeks (feels like much longer, right?) since Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus first put on Phoenix Suns uniforms and one week since Vince Carter joined them for active duty.

In that time these newcomers have had to learn their offensive and defensive responsibilities while the Suns have adjusted defensive schemes. You just can’t create chemistry like this on the fly and thus the Suns have lost five of six games against lackluster competition aside from the Heat and Lakers games.

“The positive out of it is that we’re fighting like Hell,” Vince Carter said. “We’re really starting to put it together. The most important thing is just to stay focused, still believe in each other. We’re just right there, and I think if we put one or two together we’ll feel better about ourselves and our situation.

“We just ask the fans to be patient. We know you want to see your team win. We want to win. It’s not fun coming in here and being so close. It’s just frustrating to keep going out and for whatever reason getting beat, but we’re right there.”

The biggest reason the Suns lost this one is that they got crushed on the boards once again, this time by a 47-31 margin. That’s despite the Suns starting a front line of Robin Lopez and Marcin Gortat, but Lopez was once again ineffective with two points and one board and poor defense against Andrew Bynum.

Gentry was pleased with his twin towers, but they inherently ruined the spacing on offense (aside from the fact Gortat isn’t used to playing the four and wasn’t always in the right spot) and their defense/rebounding didn’t make up for it. When asked about this lineup, Steve Nash said it was necessary to combat the Lakers’ size but he doesn’t expect it to become a Suns staple.

The Suns fought back from a nine-point second-quarter deficit when Jared Dudley exploded for 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the period as Phoenix took a 50-49 halftime lead.

The Lakers then jumped out to an early second half lead but could never put the Suns away until the very end. Phoenix’s final rally cut an eight-point lead with four minutes to go down to one when Carter drilled a three in the corner.

But Ron Artest followed a pair of Shannon Brown free throws with a back-breaking three that the Suns never recovered from when Carter missed a shot, Gortat made one of two free throws and Hill got blocked before Carter missed a three with 10 seconds left and the Suns down four.

“It was a disappointing loss,” Steve Nash said. “We didn’t play bad, we just didn’t make enough plays or play well enough to win the game, so it’s disappointing, but we got to stay positive and keep moving.”

Added Grant Hill: “It’s one of those games where you kind of go back, just a bounce of the ball, one shot, one play you could do over again, but just learn from it.”

The Suns suffered their second straight loss when yielding fewer than 100 points after dropping just two of their 33 such previous games. That means Phoenix held the Lakers below 100 points for the first time since Jan. 17, 2008, a span of 11 consecutive meetings.

That’s another glass half full/half empty proposition. Either you can say the Suns’ defense has been improving on the heels of the stinker against Philly with their stifling performance against Detroit or you can say their offense hasn’t been good enough in stretches to win such games, failing to score 100 in three of their past five defeats.

With every loss the Suns make this hole more and more difficult to dig out of. There’s no shame in losing to Kobe, Pau and the defending champs, it’s just a shame when losses to the Clippers, Sixers and Kings in the past week make the straits so dire.

The Suns are showing progress, putting together solid stretches (the bench played particularly well in the second quarter tonight) and showing glimpses of becoming a playoff-caliber team. But time is not on their side as they start to approach the midway point of their season still in training camp mode.

“It’s going to take time, we just don’t have time,” Gentry said. “We don’t have that luxury of being the first couple games of the season where we’re trying to find things out. When you change the team the way we have it’s not going to be the same team we were last year, so we have to find new ways to score at the end of the game and how to create situations and mismatches and things like that.

“That all is just a process. We just need to keep working and hope the chemistry and everything kicks in and we can go on a run where you win 10 out of 12 or something like that to get back in the race. That’s the way it has to be.”

As the national media circles the Suns like vultures waiting for them to gut the team and rebuild (AKA trade Nash), all Gentry and the players can do is continue to try to find that chemistry that could turn this season around. Many of the interviewed Suns believe they just need a couple quality wins to get rolling back on the playoff path.

“We went through the same thing last year,” Gentry said of these late-game struggles, “and the one thing I can say about all the guys in that locker room is that they’re a confident bunch. Although we’re struggling and our record is not where we think it should be I think that we’ll continue to play. I think we really feel like at some stage it will all come together for us.”

Perhaps it will, but if it doesn’t happen soon then it may be too late.

And 1

The Oregon and Auburn football teams attended the game. … Jared Dudley scored 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go with six boards. Dudley now has eight career performances of 19 or more points, four of which have come in the last seven games. … Gortat went for 12 and nine, and he has now scored in double figures in four of six games with the Suns after doing so just twice in 23 contests for the Magic. … Orlando has won seven straight after dropping its first two following the trade, so that team has gelled considerably faster than Phoenix. … Six Suns scored in double figures.