Lakers give ascendant Suns reality check

LOS ANGELES

Steve Nash stood in the Suns' locker room, facing a huddle of reporters with a tired, weathered look on his face.

"Our team needs to look at this as a project," the two-time MVP and six-time All-Star point guard said after a disappointing 121-102 loss Thursday night to the Lakers.

"This is the time to get better. ... We gotta put this one behind us."

It's been an unfamiliar feeling so far for Nash, who missed out on a trip to the playoffs for the first time in four years last season.

But if early-season games mean anything for a team's outlook in the spring, then the Suns proved in the season's first two weeks that they'll be no easy out in a seven-game series.

After all, they showed it with quality wins in some of the NBA's most difficult environments.

Last year, the Suns struggled to an 18-23 record on the road en route to a ninth-place finish in the Western Conference standings.

This year, though, it's been Nash and his teammates who have quickly quieted that concern after recently wrapping up a week-long road trip with wins in Miami, Boston and Washington, D.C.

But it doesn't get that much easier for Alvin Gentry's team.

The Suns, in fact, play only six home games in the first month of the season, with December featuring trips to Houston, Toronto, Cleveland, Dallas and Denver, along with another one back here against Kobe Bryant and company.

Of course, Nash and his Suns teammates understand that if they want to have any chance at a Pacific Division crown, they'll have to win under the Staples Center's bright lights at least once this season.

They just probably didn't think they'd actually already be in the best position to do so.

Coming into Thursday night's showdown with the Lakers, the Suns were — believe it or not — a game ahead of the defending champs in the standings thanks to a four-game win streak.

Better yet, it was the franchise's best start in 29 years after scoring 100 or more points in its first nine games for the first time since 1990-91.

That streak continued Thursday, even in a 19-point loss, but if you look at this year's and last year's stat sheet, it's still not quite clear how the Suns have been doing it.

Compared to last year's group, the Suns this season are roughly averaging the same points scored and allowed, as well as rebounds and assists.

"This year, I think we're highlighting players' strengths, and there's been an understanding from Day 1 in training camp," Nash said. "But we have a lot to prove and a lot to still work on."

Remember, this is a team that has continually dealt with trade rumors surrounding Amar'e Stoudemire, who had a night offensively — eight points on 2-for-15 shooting — that he'd like to forget.

It's also a team that hasn't won a playoff series in two years while being hardly thought of as a Western Conference contender coming into this season.

"Two weeks ago, we weren't supposed to make the playoffs," Nash said.

Yet, somehow, some way, the Suns have managed to keep winning with not exactly the most youthful and durable lineup.

Because what Terry Porter couldn't do for the first 51 games last year with a 36-year-old Shaquille O'Neal, Gentry has done quite well with two guys over the age of 35 in the starting lineup.

That age, however, was enough to make a difference against the defending champs Thursday night, as Kobe and his sidekicks turned Nash's run-and-gun show into a slow-motion picture film.

"Back-to-back (games) happen, but the seven games in 10 days caught up with us eventually," said Nash, who was limited to 13 points and five assists in a little more than 24 minutes. "You gotta find a way to overcome that."

Against a Lakers team that's still without Pau Gasol (strained hamstring) and is welcoming back Andrew Bynum after a two-game absence because of a strained right elbow, Nash's savvy playmaking was only good for so much.

"We ran out of gas, we really did," Gentry admitted afterward. "The bottom line is that we missed shots that we normally make. I am not sure we quite had our legs."

Instead, it was Bynum asserting himself early on and showing no signs of injury with 16 first-half points on 8-of-12 shooting.

"You have to get to the post position and really do your job," Bynum said. "When the team tells you to come through, you have to come through and play hard and do the work inside."

That strong play from the 7-footer continued in the second half, as Derek Fisher and the rest of the Lakers' backcourt found Bynum time after time off the lob for several thunderous dunks.

"You throw it up to him high and he's not bringing it down; it's an easy two points," Suns shooting guard Jason Richardson said of Bynum, who tallied an impressive 26 points and 15 rebounds in 35 minutes. "He's going to help his team out a whole lot."

"Andrew had a lot of opportunities in there," Lakers head coach Phil Jackson added. "Tonight, the key was we played the tempo game for at least the first three quarters the way we wanted to."

And then there was Bryant, alleviating some of the pressure from Bynum by splitting the Suns' weak double-teams and finding wide-open teammates in the lane for easy buckets most of the night.

"We executed our strategy," said Bryant, who finished the night with a game-high 29 points on 13-of-21 shooting. "We played with a purpose, and we came out with a big win."

It might have been a big win for the defending champs, but there's no doubt it would have been a bigger one for the visiting Suns, who never appeared to have a chance after halftime.

"They are the world champs, and there is a reason why they are the world champs," Gentry said of the Lakers. "I don't know if they have a weakness after looking around."

But unlike the Lakers, if there's one thing Gentry learned from Thursday night's loss, it's that the Suns may have too many right now.