When the Suns' "championship window" was supposedly open from 2004 to 2008, they never started a season 7-1. They never scored at least 100 points in each of their first eight games. And except for 2004-05, when Steve Nash returned to Phoenix to change the fortunes of a downtrodden franchise, they were never known as the surprise of the NBA. Suddenly, after capping a daunting five-game Eastern road swing at 4-1 by rallying from a 12-point halftime deficit in Philadelphia, the Suns are all of that. A team expected to grapple for a low seed in the West is peering down at everyone else with an off night in Orlando all that is separating them from a perfect break from the gate. Those who wrote off Nash as past his prime have seen him go for 20 assists twice in the first eight games and return the words "MVP candidate" to his moniker. Jason Richardson, hopelessly miscast in Terry Porter's more deliberate offense, is now the J-Rich of his Golden State days with the green light to shoot and no reason not to fire.
The Suns made 15 more 3-pointers Monday night and have 89 in the first eight games. That's an average of more than 11 a game, and that's a good head start toward 115 points.
It's a long season, and some of Phoenix's senior citizens are playing heavy minutes (Nash had to go 36 minutes in a back-to-back situation to pull out Monday's win). The Suns' lack of a true rebounder will certainly cost them on certain nights, although it's been side-stepped to this point. And all the games against the Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets, Mavericks, Rockets, Blazers (get the picture?) still lie ahead.
But the first two weeks couldn't have gone better, and the Suns have 50-plus wins in their crosshairs. And while one or two injuries to the core would be devastating, this team is in great shape and has one of the best training staffs in sports. The Suns could be ready for the long haul.
SUNS 119, SIXERS 115: The Suns finished 4-1 on their tough Eastern road swing as Jason Richardson scored 29 points and Steve Nash went 20-20 (21 points, 20 assists) for the second time in his career, enabling Phoenix to rally from a 12-point halftime deficit and wear out Philadelphia. Jared Dudley added 18 points off the bench for the Suns, who are 7-1 for only the second time in team history and have topped the 100-point mark in each of the first eight games.
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