The Suns played hard tonight but it just wasn’t good enough to prevail. Grant Hill led the way for the Suns last night with 21 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Robin Lopez was tough in this game as he finished up with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. Jason Richardson filled up the stat sheet last night with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. Goran Dragic pitched in with 15 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 1 steal in 19 minutes on the floor. The Suns are now 1-2 on the year.

The Suns rushed out to a 58-42 lead at the half in this game and they never looked back. Steve Nash led the way for the Suns in this game with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Hakim Warrick was outstanding off the bench for the Suns last night as he finished up with 18 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in only 26 minutes. Jason Richardson (16 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 steal) and Channing Frye (14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots) also had solid games. Grant Hill got tough in this game mixing it up in the paint as he finished up with 9 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists in 29 minutes on the floor. The Suns are now 1-1 on the year.

The Suns were outscored 31-11 in the 4th quarter to doom them in this game. This was not pretty as the Blazers pushed them around outrebounding the Suns 48-30 and it’s almost impossible to win that way. Steve Nash did his best to try to help his team win as he finished up with 26 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Jason Richardson also had a solid game with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. But Nash & Richardson didn’t have much help from the rest of the Suns as Hakim Warrick was the only other player on the Suns to score in double figures. Warrick finished up tonight with 10 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist in only 18 minutes on the court. The Suns are 0-1 on the year now.

The Suns won 54 games last season but they lost Amare Stoudemire. The Suns replaced Stoudemire with Hedo Turkoglu and I think that’s a recipe for disaster. With that in mind I would suggest a bet on the under with the Suns this year. After all, Steve Nash doesn’t even think the Suns will be a playoff team this year and he is a guy that should know the pulse of his team. The Suns are 50-1 to win the NBA Championship and I don’t think they have much of a chance to do it.

Alvin Gentry led the Suns to a 54-28 (65.9%) record during the regular season and he was 10-6 (62.5%) in the post season in his first complete season in charge. Gentry got the Suns to play over their heads in the playoffs as he seems to get the most out of his players. He now has a 72-41 (63.7%) record during his career with the Suns during the regular season. Gentry now has a 249-267 (48.3%) record during the regular season and he is 12-9 (57.1%) during the post season in his NBA career as a head coach. Gentry will have a big test this year without Amare Stoudemire and it will be interesting to see how he does.