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Top Stretches: Remembering Steve Nash At His Best

By Scott Chasen

Nov 8, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash sits on the bench during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at New Orleans Arena. The Pelicans defeated the Lakers 96-85. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 8, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash sits on the bench during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at New Orleans Arena. The Pelicans defeated the Lakers 96-85. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 7, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash (10) watches from the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center. The Lakers defeated the Sixers 112-98. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 7, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash (10) watches from the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center. The Lakers defeated the Sixers 112-98. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

#2: The Streak, Part 2: January 2007

After getting back on track with a 15-game win streak, the Suns were well on their way to a playoff berth, but what they did in January certainly turned some heads. The Suns lost a grand total of one game in the month… ONE GAME… winning more games by 20+ points (4) than by fewer than 5 (2).

Steve Nash racked up 8+ assists in all-but one game, while committing one turnover or less five times. Overall, Captain Canada averaged 3.6 turnovers per game, but that was mostly due to the fact that the ball was in his hands far more often than not when he was on the court. And he was certainly on the court for a long time.

Nash averaged more than 35 minutes per game in the 2006-07 season, and he played 35+ minutes in 12 of the team’s 16 games over the month. As has always been the case, Nash easily avoided foul trouble, picking up more than two fouls on just one occasion, but overall, there was one number that was more impressive than all the others…

Assists.

To close out January, Nash racked up 14+ assists in five consecutive games, a total he hit in nearly 60% of the games he played in. One of the greatest pure passers of all time, Nash averaged 13.0 assists per game over the month, with games of 21, 18, 16, 15 (three times) and 14 (also three times) assists. In fact, this might be a good opportunity to take a break and watch some of his greatest assists, before reading on…

Scoring wasn’t really a priority for Nash over that stretch, but it really didn’t have to be. In the last game before January, Nash dropped 35 points on 19 shots, and with a couple of 40-point games earlier in the year, he had pretty much hit his offensive explosion quota for the season.

However, while Nash may have lacked in quantity (and I use that term very loosely, considering he still averaged 18.0 points per game), he certainly didn’t lack in quality. On three separate occasions, Nash shot at least 73% from the field, including an 11-of-13 performance against the Washington Wizards. With a 54.5 field goal percentage and a 45.7 three-point percentage, Nash was just about as good as one could be from the field over an extended period of time, but he did have one weakness: Free throws.

Okay, so Nash actually shot 84.6% from the free throw line, which is pretty fantastic for most, but it was his worst shooting month of the season at the charity stripe. That number would actually be pretty key for Nash, as he would end up just three made free throws away from posting another 50-40-90 season, finishing the year with a free throw percentage of 89.9%.

Next: #1: A Texas-Sized Playoff Performance

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