The Phoenix Suns are just as hot as that yellow orb in the sky and in some ways even hotter. The Suns are 6 – 1 on the young season leading the Western Conference and a half game up on the Lakers in the Pacific division. The Sun God Ra would be proud of the way Phoenix is scorching the competition. The Suns have exceeded 100 points in every game this year.

Ok, enough with the puns, the Phoenix Suns and Steve Nash took down the Washington Wizards and Gilbert Arenas 102 – 90 in a road game. Road games appear to be a specialty for the Suns who now have a 4 -1 road record.

The Suns were turnover prone early and had to uncharacteristically depend on defense with Jason Richardson and Grant Hill guarding the Washington All Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler.

The Suns are supposed to be flawed defensively and with rebounding. They lured Washington into jump shots and the Wizards wound up shooting 39 percent from the field. Even bigger, they kept the Wizards to 12 second-chance points. Jason Richardson mostly guarded Gilbert Arenas, who went 7 for 22 from the field. Grant Hill covered the Wizards’ other All-Star in action, holding Caron Butler to 7-of-19 shooting while lead the Suns in rebounding for the fourth time in seven games.
source

NBAObsessed has discussed the contributions in offense and leadership by Steve Nash before.

——> Steve Nash is raising Arizona

Steve Nash looks one way and passes the other

Steve Nash continues to play at an MVP level for the Suns and this game was no exception. Jason Richardson was not only making Gilbert Arenas work hard, but was the major contributor in the scoring end for the Suns as well.

Nash had 17 assists to go with 11 points, assisting on seven Suns baskets in the third quarter that sent the Suns to the fourth quarter with an 80-71 lead. Jason Richardson led the Suns’ scoring again with 22 points, including four of the Suns’ 12 3-pointers. The Suns’ frontcourt players all had double-doubles – Hill (13 points, 13 rebounds, Amar’e Stoudemire (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Channing Frye (18 points, 10 rebounds).

It is early in the season, but maybe we took the Phoenix Suns and Steve Nash a little too lightly in our predictions of an easy Laker Division win.

Image: Zuma Press

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Grant Hill, who used to play for my Pistons (as if the ownership was mine. ha-ha) and Jason Richardson, who used to play for my Michigan State Spartans (hey, your intrepid author did graduate from there and paid a ton of expenses for that diploma, which sort of makes me an owner.) led Phoenix to their 5th victory in a row.

Phoenix 118 Denver 115

Grant Hill can still play!

Now in the who cares category, why should we care?

Hey, remember how crowded the playoff situation is in the Western Conference with 7 teams trailing the Lakers and having between 42 and 47 victories? Well, the Suns just won game 39. Hope springs for at least the rest of the season or when mathematically eliminated.

Hill hit a 12-foot jumper in the lane to break a tie with 58.6 seconds remaining, then added a free throw with 6.2 seconds left to help Phoenix extend its season-high winning streak to five games in a 118-115 victory over Denver on Monday night.

“That may have been the only jumper I hit,” said Hill, who had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but also committed six turnovers.

source

Now add this scoring note.

The Suns have averaged 131.5 points a game in their last four, passing Golden State to become the highest-scoring team in the NBA with a 108.8 average. The Suns ranked fifth in the league at 104.4 points per game when Alvin Gentry replaced Terry Porter at the All-Star break.

Photo source Newscom

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Jason Richardson is flying through the air

Jason Richardson was traded to the Phoenix Suns from the Charlotte Bobcats.

The multiplayer deal will require the Suns to part with forward Boris Diaw and defensive ace Raja Bell, two mainstays from the team that averaged 58 wins over the last four seasons under former Suns coach Mike D’Antoni.

Suns-Bobcats Trade Comparison

The Suns upgraded offensively with the acquisition of guard Jason Richardson (right). Here’s how the numbers break down:

Player PPG RPG APG
To Suns
Jason Richardson 18.7 4.1 2.6
Jared Dudley 5.4 3.0 1.0
To Bobcats
Boris Diaw 8.3 3.8 2.1
Raja Bell 9.6 2.9 1.3
Sean Singletary 2.6 1.2 0.9

The Suns will also receive a future second-round pick from the Bobcats and forward Jared Dudley while sending Sean Singletary to the Bobcats.

source

On the surface the Suns get a high scoring guard to complement Stave Nash and Charlotte gets a defender in Raja Bell. It seems like a good deal for both teams and it may be true. One thing is for sure; both teams needed a boost from somewhere.

Charlotte is 7 – 14
Phoenix is better at 13 – 9, but only 5 – 5 in the last 10 games. Phoenix is used to a much higher standard of play.

Photo source Newscom

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J-Rich sets one down

The nearly invincible Boston Celtics lost at home to the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 95 – 83.

Jason Richardson dominated this game with 34 points and 9 rebounds. Gerald Wallace chipped in with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

…the Charlotte Bobcats stunned the Boston Celtics 95-83 for just their fourth loss of the season on Wednesday night.

The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for Boston (29-4) and spoiled its bid for the fastest start in team history to 30 wins. The 1959-60 Celtics started 30-4 before going on to win the NBA title.

The Bobcats, who entered with an Eastern Conference-worst 1-11 road mark, also got 16 points and eight assists from Raymond Felton. source

Richardson is an incredible athlete and has had the misfortune to play on bad teams.

When J-Rich played at Michigan State University, he was a slam dunking machine with a not so good outside shot.

NBA Basketball Jason Richardson factoid - Richardson won the NBA Slam Dunk Contests in 2002 and 2003, joining Michael Jordan as the only players to have won in consecutive years. source

But Richardson’s game was raw and he worked on it constantly. Eventually he developed an outside game to rival his inside game. Now he is known for his 3 pointers.

Boston Celtics

Before you go crazy and attach all kinds of meaning to this game, maybe we ought to take a bigger look at things.

Kevin Garnett led Boston with 24 points and eight rebounds. Paul Pierce scored 13 points on just 4-for-14 shooting.

The Celtics’ only other loss at home came when Detroit’s Chauncey Billups hit two free throws with 0.1 seconds left in an 87-85 win on Dec. 19. Boston is 16-2 at the TD Banknorth Garden. source

A couple of key notes to take. Kevin Garnett was his usual MVP self and Paul Pierce had a bad night. It happens.

But the bigger issue may be the Celtics coming off of a huge victory over the Detroit Pistons on the Pistons home court. The letdown from that victory to playing the Bobcats took a lot of steam out of the Celtics.

Still, a victory over the Celtics is rare and the Bobcats earned it!

NBA Basketball Fan Question What if Jason Richardson played on a great team?

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What do you mean ‘No Love’?

Jefferson, that is Richard, not Thomas, and that is hoops, not Congress.

And that is 4 commas in one short sentence.

Which fits, because Jefferson is only 6′ 7″ and 225 pounds. Not exactly Shaq sized, but in today’s NBA and the emphasis on speed and gliding to the hoop, Richard Jefferson is doing just fine.

The whole key is his health. Now that Jefferson has it and Vince Carter on one side and Jason Kidd in the middle, there is no stopping him. The problems lie in the fact that you can stop the Nets. They are 3 – 7 in their last three games and 10 – 14 on the season, all while Richard is second in the conference in scoring and heading for and All Star season.

ABC analyst Mark Jackson, who does Nets games for the YES Network, says Jefferson had been the most consistent Net in New Jersey’s first 21 games.

“You look at the impact he is having on ball games — win, lose or draw — he hasn’t disappointed,” says Jackson. “He is playing his best basketball and it is really fun to watch night in and night out.”

Though the 6-7, 225-pound Jefferson is having an All-Star caliber start, that wasn’t his goal.

“I didn’t want to average 20 points,” Jefferson says. “I didn’t want to make the All-Star Game. I didn’t want to do this or do that. I came in saying, ‘Hey, I just want to be healthy.’ And I’m glad I’m healthy.” source

Back at Arizona

You could tell Richard would be great when he met up with my Michigan State Spartans in his last year in college at Arizona back in 2001. My Spartans were led by Jason “Jrich” Richardson and the two met head to head. It was no contest. At that time Richard Jefferson was bigger, stronger, and just plain better. It was a shock to Spartan fans.

Get Rid of Richard Jefferson

Richard is healthy and teamed with Carter and Kidd and playing at a very high level. But the Nets are not winning and that is a problem. The talk is about breaking up the big 3 players.

Breaking this trio apart has been suggested before. It just seems appropriate now because if the floundering Nets are going to address the next phase of this franchise – contending for a title, filling that new arena in Brooklyn, etc… – they should be thinking trade right now, well in advance of the February deadline.

And they should trade Jefferson, who at 24.9 points per game, still has lots of value. The big hurdle is Jefferson, who will earn $12.2 million this year, still has another three years and $52 million left on his contract. But he should be moved to rebuild. source

Leave it to Rod Thorn and the Nets to always be moving the pieces. Gotta feeling that there are plenty of teams out there drooling at the prospect of picking up a player of Richard Jefferson’s caliber.

Will he stay or will he go? Nobody knows.

Break up the Big 3? Hey, thought the Big 3 was officially up in Boston now?

Rod ought to wake up and realize the Nets have historically stunk on Defense and have lacked a true presence in the middle for years.

Richard Jefferson is not the problem and besides, Richard is healthy!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Would your team trade for Jefferson?

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