Suns shake up rotation, pull out 'important' win

PHOENIX -- While many helpful observers continue offering advice on how the franchise should handle the future of Steve Nash, the Phoenix Suns spent part of Saturday night figuring out how to avoid calamity without him.

That premise isn't nearly as compelling as any trade rumor, of course. This was a simple rest-taking adjustment that enabled Nash to supply a little direction to co-workers from the second shift.

There were a few others shake-ups during an 86-84 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies that killed the Suns' three-game losing streak and ended with Nash writhing on the floor in seeming agony.

"It's frustrating ... another thigh bruise," Nash said after absorbing the contusion while defending Memphis guard Mike Conley on the game's final play.

Right, just another challenge for Nash -- who will be 38 years old next month -- in a season already riddled with 'em. At least his 700th game as a Sun resulted in something that's become a lot more precious than the team and its fans had hoped.

"Every win is very, very important," Nash said after scoring 21 points and handing out six dimes during his team's seventh victory in 19 games. "They're not easy to come by."

Yeah, especially when the team's dial-up-modem offensive attack produces 36.4 percent marksmanship from the field. On the brighter side, Phoenix did track down 18 offensive rebounds and surrendered a reasonable 14 turnovers against one of the league's pilfer-happy defenses.

The aforementioned shake-ups included coach Alvin Gentry removing Nash from the lineup earlier than usual in the first and third periods. He still played 31-plus minutes, but the deployment switch put him on the floor with members of the Suns' second unit, a crew that has struggled to score.

"We've got to be able to play with Steve off the floor, because he can't play 48 minutes," Gentry said one night after his team produced a nine-point second quarter in a 109-71 loss to the Trail Blazers in Portland. "We have to be able to do things and compete with him off the floor."

It should be noted that the Suns' offense in Portland -- and most other NBA locales -- isn't exactly rampaging when Nash is playing.

Anyway, when Nash left at the 5:05 mark in the opening quarter, the Suns held a 15-9 lead. When he returned at 8:02 in the second, the Suns were up 27-20. They led 55-44 when he sat down with 4:57 left in the third quarter, but the lead slipped to 66-62 by the time he got back in with 9:59 left in the game.

Overall, the Suns kept their heads above water without Nash, who also worked with a starting lineup that included Channing Frye and Jared Dudley.

"Well, I like winning, so it was nice to win," Nash said when asked about the rotation changes. "It's hard to say whether the rotation is the reason we won, you know -- I don't know."

For the record, reviews for Frye and Dudley -- who began the season as starters -- were mixed. Frye missed 8 of his 9 shots from the field, producing just two points and three rebounds in just under 14 minutes. Dudley, who has not reached the level of performance the Suns were expecting, had 20 points and 6 rebounds.

Rookie Markieff Morris, who flourished in a reserve role earlier this season, was bumped out of the starting lineup along with Ronnie Price. Morris looked a bit more comfy, giving the Suns 10 points and nine rebounds. Center Marcin Gortat started another double-double streak, going for 13 and 12, respectively, while making just 6 of 17 shots.

Grant Hill remained in the starting lineup, too, and clocked almost 35 minutes in the second game of a back-to-back. His shot-clock-beating corner 3-pointer at 2:59 of the fourth gave the Suns an 82-78 advantage shortly after Memphis had taken its first lead of the game.

The rotation changes included some minutes for Josh Childress but no court time for shooting guard Shannon Brown and a DNP for Robin Lopez (returning from a one-game suspension).

"I played tonight the guys I thought would help us win," Gentry said.

While not exactly endorsing or downplaying the rotation changes, Nash appreciated the urgency.

"It's gotta drive the coaches crazy," he said of figuring out which players to play without the benefit of practice time. "If we don't make adjustments on the fly as players, there's going to be nights like that."

The "nights like that" reference was taking us back to Friday night's catastrophe in Portland.

"We had to gut it out there at the end," Nash said, "but I thought, you know, after last night's embarrassment, we came out played with a lot of heart and found a way."