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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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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Happy Birthday, Steve Nash, you hit the game winner tonight on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks.

How fitting.

The Phoenix Suns were 35-5 against the Milwaukee Bucks since the '91-'92 season entering tonight's game. It looked as though they were in for their 36th W after two quarters of play when something typical happened. After scoring 67 points in the first half, the Suns suddenly lost momentum, putting up 40 in the final two quarters while giving up 55 to the Bucks.

What should have been an easy road win turned out to be a nailbiter for the Phoenix Suns. But none of that matters when it's Steve Nash's birthday.

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Can the Suns take advantage of yet another opponent without a key player and get another much needed win? So far, they've failed to do so despite many opportunities...Let's hope they can change that with a quality win tonight.

Let's go!

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It shouldn't be so difficult to defeat the league's worst team at home, especially when said team is missing their top three scorers. But there were our Suns trailing the Bobcats 54-44 in the 3rd quarter tonight before the bench came in to save the day, and the Suns escaped total embarrassment by pulling out a 95-89 win.

Michael Redd got the start in place of the injured (thigh bruise) Jared Dudley. Dudley looked quite dapper in his suit on the bench and Redd looked impressive himself, leading the Suns with 17 points behind 4-7 3-point shooting.

The Suns also received excellent production from their two centers as Marcin Gortat put up yet another double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Robin Lopez was the player of the game during the decisive 4th quarter. Lopez ended up with 13 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes of play, in what was his best performance since the season opener almost a month and a half ago.

My mom always taught me never to look a gift horse in the mouth, and a win is a win. But, to beat this team when they're shorthanded, well....a win is a win.

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Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything.

~Vince Lombardi

The Suns are without Jared Dudley (thigh bruise) for tonight's game. Here's what Gentry had to say about the state of things:

Phoenix Suns Vs. Charlotte Bobcats: TV Schedule, Lineups And No Jared Dudley - SB Nation Arizona
Coach Alvin Gentry's biggest concern right now is the team's energy level and inconsistent effort.

"I am more concerned about the overall energy level as anything. To me that's the most important thing. We've just had too much of a discrepancy and that area right there is something we've got to get back and be consistent with, competing and playing hard night in and night out," Gentry said before the game.