Loss slams a big dent in Suns' hopes News Phoenix Suns

It was a quiet group of Phoenix Suns in the visitors' locker room in the bowels of EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday night ? and with good reason. Phoenix's long-shot bid to earn a playoff spot in the Western Conference took a major hit after the Suns blew a 7-point lead in the final 2:11 of regulation before losing to the Utah Jazz , 104-99 in overtime.

And it happened after the Suns had rallied from a 21-point, second-half deficit to take the late lead. "It's disappointing," said Phoenix point guard Steve Nash. "We just didn't make the plays down the stretch when we really needed them." Phoenix, which fell to 40-33 with the loss, is now 3 1/2 games behind Dallas for the final playoff spot with nine games remaining. "We had ample opportunities to win, but we just fell short," said Suns center Shaquille O'Neal. The Suns played their worst quarter of the season ? scoring a season-low 11 points in the second ? as the Jazz opened up a big lead. By early in the third quarter the Jazz were up by 21, at 58-37. "I think we just missed shots, to be honest," said Nash. "We had good looks. We just missed them." Shaq agreed. "A lot of guys were missing shots we don't usually miss. It was just one of those days shooting in the first half." It was actually Phoenix's bench play that got the Suns back in the game. Nash and O'Neal, both former NBA MVPs, were a combined 5-for-20 shooting through three quarters of play. But Phoenix was in striking distance, down 11, thanks in large part to second-year forward Jared Dudley. He finished the game with a season-high 15 points. "J-Dud carried us on his back," said O'Neal. "Guys came in and we got the lead. (The Jazz) just hit some tough shots down the stretch." After three tough quarters, O'Neal and Nash played well in the fourth to give the Suns the lead. Shaq, in fact, scored eight of his 16 points in a 2:30 stretch that gave Phoenix an 88-81 lead with 2:11 to play. But the Jazz went on a 9-2 run the rest of the way to send the game into overtime. Phoenix scored the first four points of overtime, but then the Jazz caught up and were able to pull away. "We did everything that we had to do except win the game," said Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry. "We just didn't make the plays to get us over the hump." The Suns still have a shot at making the playoffs, but it won't be easy. They'll try to regroup tonight at home against Sacramento. "You have to give (the Jazz) credit and (we have) to regroup and move on," said Gentry. "We don't have a lot of time to think about it and worry about it." E-mail: lojo@desnews.com