PHOENIX — The chants sprung up organically with about five and a half minutes left in a season and possibly a legendary Suns career, slowly building to a crescendo that resonated throughout US Airways Center.
The cheers only ceased for a pair of timeouts until finally Alvin Gentry had no choice but to oblige and send in the Suns’ two-time MVP for one final ovation from a fan base that loves him so.
So Nash ripped off his warmups as for one last time “Number 13, Steeeeeeeve Nash” was introduced to an adoring Suns crowd before he promptly turned the ball over and exited to a series of hugs on the bench with a buzz still engulfing the arena.
If this was really it, what a moment it was.
“It was obviously amazing to get that type of reception and support,” Nash said, fighting back tears. “It’s very special because it’s not something that I asked for or imagined to get that type of spontaneous reaction.
“It’s authentic, the relationship that I thought we had, so it’s great. It really feels special and the fans have been phenomenal. It meant a lot to me to play in a city like this for as long as I have and to feel important to the fans and the community, and I just feel like a very lucky guy.”
Added Jared Dudley, “I haven’t been a part of anything like that. It just shows you the respect they have for him. He’s had a hell of a career. He’s probably one of the most unselfish basketball players I’ve ever played with. He makes everyone better, but it just shows you all the hard work he’s put in here and that the fans here in Phoenix definitely appreciate it.”
Dudley’s not alone. Spontaneous fan outbursts like that come along all too seldom, especially in this city.
In a world of contrived cheers, T-shirt cannons and pumped in music, this was special. It just felt different, as if the fans could sense that this eight-year relationship was really coming to an end. [Read more →]
Could this be the end of the road for Steve Nash in a Phoenix Suns jersey?
After a month of de facto playoffs in which the Suns had to continue winning to keep their postseason hopes flickering, Suns fans are left with the sobering reality that they could be saying goodbye to their lovable two-time MVP tonight when the hated Spurs come to town to close out the season.
Isn’t it fitting that if this is the end, it will come against the one team that has caused Nash more pain — literally and figuratively — than any other.
This is Duncan’s Spurs, the team that eliminated a Nash contender from the postseason five times last decade while bloodying his nose, gashing his eye and knocking him into the scorer’s table for good measure.
For a game that should have gone from meaning everything to meaningless after Utah knocked the Suns out of the playoff race last night, you can’t overlook the historical importance of potentially the end of Steve Nash’s glorious eight years in the Valley.
Along the way the Suns can clinch their seventh winning season in Nash’s eight years (with last year’s 40-42 mark the only blemish) and really certify the fact that any team with Nash can play winning basketball regardless of the other pieces.
It’s probably way too late, but if the Suns really wanted to they could tank for a game. As things stand, they enter play today tied with Houston for the best record among lottery teams. However, the 12th, 13th and 14th spots are all in play since Milwaukee could tie the Suns if Phoenix loses and the Bucks win their final two contests.
As Fear the Sword wrote, “In the event that teams finish with the same record, each tied team receives the average of the total number of combinations for the positions that they occupy. … Should the average number not be an integer, a coin flip is then used to determine which team or teams receive the extra combination(s). The result of the coin flip is also used to determine who receives the earlier pick in the event that neither of the tied teams wins one of the first three picks via the lottery.”
Brushing up on NBA Draft tiebreakers is a long way from where Suns fans were thinking yesterday, yet that is now reality. The 12th spot has a 0.7 percent chance of winning the lottery, 13th 0.6 as we learned last season and 14th 0.5, so we could be in for a dramatic coin flip if the Suns end up tied with the Rockets and/or Bucks.
I assume Grant Hill and Channing Frye will be held out tonight with nothing to play for, especially since it’s questionable whether they could have played even if the season were on the line.
That should give some extra developmental time for Markieff Morris and allow Hakim Warrick to make a case for why he should not be amnestied this summer.
But overall all eyes will be on No. 13.
Unlike Amare Stoudemire’s last game, Game 6 of the 2010 Western Conference Finals, all the focus will be on the Suns’ star point guard in this season finale. It will be interesting to see if fans implore him to stay like a college underclassman considering testing the draft.
The stakes are not what he would prefer, but if this is really it for Nash in a Suns uniform, I doubt he could think of a better way to leave than with a victory over the Spurs.
Marcin Gortat and the Suns didn't show up on Tuesday, and they'll miss the playoffs because of it. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart).
That’s it, that’s all folks.
Despite an improbable run to turn around what was once a 12-19 season, the Phoenix Suns’ playoff hopes are officially squashed after they fell to the Utah Jazz 100-88 in Salt Lake City on Tuesday night.
Thanks to a trio of monster double-doubles from Paul Milsap (26-15), Al Jefferson (18-16) and Derrick Favors (13-11 and five blocks) combined with a two-point performance from Marcin Gortat and little offensive production elsewhere, the Suns will miss the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time since 1988.
Their season-long climb from the basement of the Western Conference into the playoffs race fell two games short, leaving the Suns with nothing but a late lottery pick, a handful of expiring contracts, little young talent, an organization lacking direction, and a two-time MVP set to explore the free agent market.
Excited for the future of Phoenix Suns basketball right about now?
The Suns had a chance put that inevitably grim future on hold for at least four playoff games with a win against the Jazz, but all of the problems they entered the season with came out in the biggest game of the year.
With Gortat rendered ineffective and the Suns sorely missing Channing Frye and Grant Hill, the Suns had no go-to-scorer to extend the 76-74 lead that Michael Redd gave them with 10:14 to go in the game. From that point on Phoenix missed 12 of its last 17 shots, with three of the makes coming with under a minute left and the game in hand.
The Suns had no answer for the Jazz bigs as Utah’s three-headed monster of Milsap, Jefferson and Favors accounted for 57 percent of the team’s points and 75 percent of its rebounds. And Phoenix once again struggled taking care of the ball as the Jazz turned 15 Suns turnovers into 19 points and scored 24 fast-break points to boot.
Tuesday’s game was a microcosm of the Suns’ season. This once-random collection of everything from NBA journeymen to former lottery picks couldn’t come together with their season hanging in the balance, and their post-All-Star break resurrection was wasted. [Read more →]
Join the ValleyoftheSuns team and other special guests as we break down the showdown of the season between the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz with pregame, halftime and postgame shows.
PHOENIX — Throughout the Suns’ wild ride to the precipice of a playoff berth, head coach Alvin Gentry has insisted he does not believe in “must-win” games because what do you tell your team if you lose?
“So if it’s a must-win situation today and we lose, do we not go to Utah and play?” Gentry asked before the Suns did indeed lose to the Nuggets on Saturday. “Or should we not play San Antonio the last game? Because if you say it’s a must-win situation, then you’re pretty much saying if you don’t win the season is over.”
Well, the season has finally reached the point where Gentry has no choice but to label tonight’s showdown in Utah as a “must-win” game because if the Suns don’t win they will be eliminated from playoff contention. If they win tonight they will either need to beat the Spurs on Wednesday or have Utah lose to the Blazers on Thursday to reach the playoffs.
And thus after Monday’s practice, the Suns’ head coach finally relented.
“We’re officially in a must-win situation,” Gentry said. “We have to go with the must-win thing now. But we are. Tomorrow night, if we don’t win our season is over. We have to go there with the intentions that we know that this is the seventh game of the championship series.”
Few thought the Suns would be in this position when the season began and hardly anybody could have predicted this when the Suns limped into the All-Star break sporting a 14-20 record. Now they are two wins away from becoming the first Western Conference team since the 1996-97 Suns (who were 17-31 at the break) to earn a playoff berth after being at least six games below .500 at All-Star time.
The Suns have done it with — what else? — offense, as their offensive rating since the break (108.0) ranks tied for second with the Nuggets after Phoenix played a mediocre offensive first half, according to the NBA’s stats tool.
In the past month their bench, a major liability at the start of the season, has really gelled. With Sebastian Telfair leading the show and Michael Redd transforming back into a go-to scorer, this unit has become a strength. In 13 April games, the Suns’ core bench unit of Bassy-Redd-Childress-Morris-Lopez has outscored teams by 23.3 points per 100 possessions in 111 minutes.
The bench played particularly well April 4 in Utah when the Suns eked out a 107-105 win as nearly the entire bench produced a double-digit positive +/- and all the starters were in the negatives although it did take some Steve Nash heroics down the stretch to pull out the victory. The Suns also used a hot-shooting night to defeat the Jazz 120-111 on March 14 in Phoenix, which is why they have already clinched the tiebreaker.
However, Gentry cautioned, “It doesn’t really matter what’s happened in the past. We still got to beat this Utah team that’s been really good at home. I think our guys feel confident that we can go put ourselves in a good enough position to win.” [Read more →]
While “controlling their own destiny” can most definitely be said for the Phoenix Suns, who could win their final two regular season games to make the playoffs, I cringe at using the phrase.
You know, because when the Suns (33-31) face the Jazz (34-30) in Salt Lake City at 7:30 MST tonight, Utah is in the same cockpit. Heck, you could even call the Phoenix the co-pilot in this one.
In the end, it’s who exerts control of the game who will find themselves in sound position to face the No. 1 seed San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
Here’s what the Suns are facing in EnergySolutions Arena, one of the more rowdy crowds in the NBA and the home to a Jazz team that’s 23-8 while playing there.
The lowdown
Utah Jazz
Points per game: 99.7 (fourth in the NBA)
Rebounding: 43.9 (fifth in the NBA)
Opponent points per game: 99.3 (24th in the NBA)
Season series: Phoenix holds a 2-0 record with wins of 120-111 and 107-105
On March 14, the Suns survived 64 Utah paint points but needed Marcin Gortat (25), Channing Frye (26, a season high) and Jared Dudley (21) to score in the 20s to top the Jazz at home. In Utah on April 4, Phoenix led a balanced attack of seven double-digit scorers and needed 19 bench points from Michael Redd to dispatch the Jazz, who were without point guard Devin Harris.
While Gentry and crew won’t take their past history too far — the Suns have won the last seven games in the series — Dudley acknowledged it helps with confidence.
“We’ve won there last year, won there this year,” he said. “For a confidence feeling, we definitely know we’re capable.” [Read more →]
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