"NO RETREAT! NO SURRENDER! THIS IS SPARTA LAW! And by Spartan law, we will stand and fight... and die."

"O-kay. We see where you're going with this. But hear us out. What if, like, instead of fighting to win, you like, lose some battles, so you're more effective later?"

"WHO ARE YOU?!? Who are these Cretins? Why aren't you dressed in battle armor?"

"Oh, we don't actually fight with you. We more like cheer from the sidelines. See those logs all tied up and webbed together beside the battlefield? We sit there and sort of tell you what you should do."

"THE PERSIANS ARE ALREADY HERE! We've made a giant wall out of boulders and their bodies! Why do you want us to not fight our hardest?"

"You see, there's some fine up and coming young fighters, and if you lose a lot, you would get first pick! So by strategically having some of your best warriors hide in that water tank over there part of the time, you could throw a few battles, BUT next year pick up some young stud who has a 7' wingspan!"

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The Phoenix Suns had a chance to beat the Houston Rockets on Thursday night. The bench unit got torched in the second quarter but the Suns shot well in the third and got back in the game. In the fourth quarter, however, Phoenix only scored 13 points. Eight came with Nash on the bench and five when Nash came back in the game.

Suns were down 83-84 when Nash came back in at the 6:20 mark, making it a very winnable game. From there, Houston finished on a 13-5 run, mostly thanks to their active defense.

Houston employed the same strategy the Lakers used to shut down the Suns on the 10th of January. They went small with Scola/Patterson, Budinger, Parsons, Lowry and Dragic. That's a four playing the five and a three playing the four.

After getting killed on the glass 37-21 through the first three quarters, the small Houston lineup allow the Suns to win the boards 10-7 and Phoenix gave up no offensive rebounds and no second chance points in the fourth quarter (Houston had 12 OReb and 22 second chance points for the game).

By going small, however, the Rockets were able to switch some pick and rolls and basically created havoc by rotating quickly.

Lowry took two charges and had a great block in the stretch. Budinger was solid on his weak side rotations. And like in the Lakers game, the Suns weren't able to take advantage of the extra size Gortat and Frye had because they are not post players. Gortat missed a make-able shot and twice was fouled on open layups and went 1-4 from the line.

Here's a breakdown of all the Suns possessions from the time Nash came back in with 6:20 to go in the game. Details and screenshots come from mySynergySports.com, which is an awesome service if you are so inclined.

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Remember Dragic's first year, when he'd stop his progress, turn his back and crouch to protect the dribble when an opposing player got within a couple feet of him? And how his biggest problem was an inability to effectively run an offense?

I do. I remember folks wondering regularly why Kerr spent millions to get this kid from Slovenia.

It was Dragic's second season where he flourished as a change-of-pace backup, when our expectations were no higher than 8 points and 3 assists in 15 minutes against the other team's bench. Those occasional 10+ point games were a revelation. When he started 1 game that second year - a 16 and 10 performance against the rising Thunder - our eyes began to open to the possibilities of his future. Then that 28-point game against San Antonio sealed it. Dragic was a rising star!

Unfortunately, 2010-2011 happened. Dragic regressed. His shot failed him, and his confidence was close behind. The Suns were struggling for a playoff spot and the Suns' second unit was terrible. Horrible. And this was still when Frye and Dudley played in that second unit. So he was sent away for a chance at lightning in a bottle that never came. But don't fool yourself - Dragic played himself into that trade.

Some of us - me included - thought Dragic would never progress into a viable starting PG. His lack of confidence and streaky shot, and his inability to drive to his right, would forever limit him to "good backup" or "okay starter on a bad team".

But then something happened to Dragic. Maybe it was the shock of the trade - like a cutting of the apron strings - that forced Dragic to grow up and become his own man.

Last night, Goran Dragic showed the game that we all hoped he had. All while staying calm and collected. But the best part was that, between plays (and even once during a play), he kept his sense of humor and friendships with Suns players alive.

I counted several great exchanges between Dragic and a Suns player last night, in between him leading the second unit to 57 big points, including 11 of his own points plus 11 assists, 4 rebounds and a couple steals. Each one of those little exchanges with our guys made me smile.

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The Phoenix Suns showed improvement tonight, playing an entertaining, back and forth game with the Houston Rockets, but the Rockets bench proved to be too much and the Suns fell short in the end, 96-89. Goran Dragic haunted his former team with 11 points and 11 assists, and provided a toughness and poise not always seen in his time in Phoenix, committing only 2 turnovers in 29 minutes of action.

All five of the Rockets bench players scored in double figures and all held a double digit + in +/- as they totaled a whopping 57 points in comparison to the 13 scored by the Suns bench. Michael Redd scored 11 of those Suns bench points.

Channing Frye led the Suns with 21 points and 10 rebounds, as he hit 4 of his 9 3-point attempts and looked aggressive from the start, and newly minted 2012 all-star Steve Nash scored 14 points to go with his 13 assists. Nash didn't miss a shot, going 7-7 from the field.

Improvement? Yes. But the Suns continue to be dogged by the same problems of inconsistent rebounding, spotty bench play and lack of late game offensive execution. All reared their ugly heads tonight.

Read on for more.....

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More energy, better rebounding, hit open shots. We got this.

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There's going to be folks in Denver or Utah that might not agree, but Steve Nash making the 2012 NBA All-Star team as a reserve was a no-brainer. You already know this because you watch Steve Nash on a nightly basis. You know how well he's shooting. You know how well he's running the team and dishing the ball. You even know how well he's swatting shots (two of them!) this season.

Here's what NBA All-Star Steve Nash had to say about the honor earlier in the day before it became official that Captain Canada would be heading to his eighth All-Star Game.

"I had one scholarship offer and had a lot of ups and downs in the league so I don't want at any stage of my career to be under-appreciative of the All-Star Game. In some ways I'd probably appreciate it a lot more now knowing the stage of my career that I'm at and how hard I've worked to continue to play. I'd definitely enjoy it."

Not bad, for an old guy. Not bad at all.

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When the Phoenix Suns last played the Rockets on February 3rd in Houston, the Suns 99-81 loss was the type of game to make a fan throw his hands up and say, "I can't watch this crap!" The Rockets crushed the Suns from the opening tip and led by 20 at halftime, making the whole second half essentially garbage time. Seven Rockets scored in double figures and the Suns shot only 41% from the field. It was a thorough whupping.

At 8-14 then, the Suns looked like toast. An unimpressive win over the sorry Bobcats followed, then a strange thing happened: two consecutive wins on the road against teams who are in playoff position, the Hawks and the Bucks. Reclamation project SG Michael Redd scored 17, 10 and 14 points, and the Suns go into tonight's rematch against the Rockets at home down only 3 in the loss column to the #4 team in the West.

Of course, the Suns remain in the 12th spot in the stacked Western Conference, with four teams to leapfrog for a playoff spot, and have beaten only one of the current playoff teams in the conference so far. Tonight provides an opportunity to make up ground on the Rockets, and to see how much progress they've made since the debacle of last Friday night.

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