Steve Nash missed this game because of a bad back.  Leandro Barbosa stepped in and ran the attack as he scored 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and stole the ball 5 times.  Amare Stoudamire had a great game with 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Raja Bell (15 points), Marcus Banks (17 points), Boris Diaw (9 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and Shawn Marion (9 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists) all pitched in on the victory over the Sixers.

The Suns improved their record to 3-5 on the season.

The Suns are hoping that Amare Stoudamire will be able to give them big minutes at the center position this season.  Stoudamire is a great basketball player.  Stoudamire is a great rebounder, good defender and excellent finisher on the fast break.  For his career, Stoudamire has averaged 19.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 blocks per game.

Kurt Thomas will back up at both power forward and center this season.  Thomas is a tough player in the paint that plays hard every night.  Thomas has averaged 10.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game over his career.

Pat Burke will be the #3 center for the Suns.  He hasn’t played much in his career, and probably won’t this season either.  Burke has averaged 3.9 points & 2.1 rebounds per game over his career.

The Suns have the best all-around small forward in the NBA, period.  Marion plays offense & defense, which is odd for a small forward.  Last season the Suns needed “The Matrix” to get more rebounds because of Stoudamire’s injury and he did just that as he averaged 21.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.  Marion plays hard every night and he is just as important to the Suns as Steve Nash is.  For his career, Marion has averaged 18.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.3 assists per game! 

James Jones will be the Suns back-up at small forward.  Jones averaged 9.3 points & 3.4 rebounds last season for the Suns.  Jones fits right in with the rest of the Suns because he’s a good open-court player and a fine three point shooter.  For his career, James has averaged 6.9 points & 2.8 rebounds per game.

Jumaine Jones was signed on to provide depth for the Suns.  Jones has averaged 7.3 points & 4.3 assists per game over his career.  Jumaine has the same skill set as James Jones does, and he fits in well on this roster.

The Suns played great for three quarters, building up a 89-58 lead!  But they didn’t do squat in the 4th quarter as the Grizzlies out-scored the Suns 29-7 in the 4th quarter.  The Suns finally out-rebounded someone 52-42 last night.

Amare Stoudamire had his best game of the season with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Shawn Marion had a good game with 17 points & 9 rebounds.  Leandro Barbosa filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 12 assists and 4 steals.  Steve Nash had a solid game with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists.  Jalen Rose pitched in with 11 points off of the bench.  Boris Diaw had a decent all-around game with 9 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Suns need to develop more of a killer instinct.  They should have won that game last night by 40 points!  The Suns are now 2-5 on the season.

The Suns had better start getting tougher or they will be in trouble this season.  The Suns allowed the Mavericks to shoot 54.8% from the floor, and the Suns got out-rebounded 37-25!  You can’t win that way as the Suns proved last night despite shooting 54.7% from the floor themselves!  Leandro Barbosa led the way with 30 points.  Shawn Marion added 21 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.  Steve Nash scored 20 points and dished out 9 assists…but he turned the ball over alot and it cost the Suns in the end.  Amare Stoudamire had another decent game with 16 points and 8 rebounds.  Boris Diaw had a decent game with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Suns need to get tougher under the basket on defense or they are going to lost alot of games this season.  The Suns have fallen to 1-5 on the season.