[Thanks again, JSun, for giving us the postgame rundown, and also to sunofa for the in-game commentary.]

The Suns are only a half-game behind the Clippers for the Pacific Division lead. My, it's going to be a long season.

I thought the "Suns beat LeBron" title was funny before the game started, but he was 11 for 26 with 27 points. I'll take that any night. If memory serves, he had only 8 or 10 at halftime, and those were cuts where he relied on a pass from a teammate or a put-back. As for the latter, I could've got a put-back hoop against the Suns defensive rebounding tonight (or at least in the first half). When he started to play better in the second half, that huge 7'3" monster started shrinking. So ... I was kind of half-right.

Matrix kept the Suns close in the first half. Of his 23, I think he was in the high teens in the first half. Did he disappear in the second? No. Nash took over in the second. To a lesser degree, it reminded me of Game 5 of the SA series. This guy keeps the Suns within striking distance and Nash finishes them off. Nash finishes them off with a 30 point night or a behind-the-back pass to Amare. Shawn is the stiff left jab and Nash is the crushing right cross. The more I think about it, the more I think Shawn's the second banana on the team - not the third.

Speaking of the third banana (and dragging out the metaphor unnecessarily), the brass knuckles in Steve's gloves was missing tonight. The report is simply that it's swelling in the recently-scoped knee. That's probably true, but it's still a bad sign for the longevity of success in the post-Nash era.

A note on Nash: it seemed that LBJ was covering him more during the first half than the second. He played better in the second. I'd like to see someone break this down to see if it's an indicator as to whether LBJ's defense played a role. By my memory, Nash seemed to have a lot more trouble when LBJ was picking up the D.

This morning, I dressed the boy in his "Chicken Little" t-shirt. For those of you who haven't seen the Disney cartoon, Chicken Little was correct that the sky was falling. It wasn't just an acorn. However, the screams of "the sky is falling" - mine included - after the Nightmare on Jefferson Street made Chicken Little seem appropriate. As those of you who have children (and, thus, the only ones reading this who have seen the film) know, Chicken Little picks himself up, dusts himself off and says, "Tomorrow is a new day."

The Suns' "tomorrow" came in the second half tonight. I give more than a little credit to Jerry Colangelo. The Ring of Honor induction ceremony was quite impressive and, by the way, KJ is a great speaker. I've got to think that his presence made some difference in the second half. How else do you explain going from shooting 35% in the first half to scoring 65 points in the second?

Skinner gave the Suns exactly what he needs to do: 12 minutes, a few points, a few hustle rebounds and some decent defense. If Amare improves as promised, he's a great pick-up. He cannot be trusted in clutch time simply because his free throw shooting is an adventure along the lines of the Thunder Mountain Shaq Railroad ride from Disneyland. Although ... his FT percentage can't possibly be lower than Barbosa's woes at the stripe.

Let's chalk up Barbosa's performance to bad ribs. You'd think his dad was Hank Hill because, from the line, that boy just ain't right. Let's give him a pass until he heals.

I was relatively impressed with Diaw. He passed up on at least one shot that he should've taken but he forced one that he should've passed out of. Other than that, he hit his jumpers, made good decisions, played above-average defense and returned to the triple-double threat that he is with a line of 16 pts, 8 rbs and 3 assts. He played admirable defense on the Cavs' bigs but was killed on the offensive glass. It's frustrating when you watch this guy play admirable defense (until the Cavs ran a pick-and-roll, which was just ugly) but the Cavs score because he refuses to put his skinny, non-croissant-eating butt on some guy.

Do you think his problem last year really was Amare in the lineup? I mean, he played pretty well tonight. I'm hopeful this isn't a trend. If, as Coach D says, he's such a smart guy, shouldn't he be able to adapt?

Tracey Morgan showed up again, but I think Marcus Banks beat him up and took his jersey back.

I shouldn't be too mean to the guy. He did have the one play where he made a steal (well, I think Boobie dribbled off his own foot - but Marcus picked up the ball) and ran down the court. He made a pretty nice behind-the-head pass to Matrix, but, because Marcus is not Steve, Shawn didn't expect it and didn't catch it. The guy finally does something he's supposed to do and Shawn's hands aren't ready for the catch. But, then again, can you blame Shawn? What in recent history suggests that Shawn should've been ready for a pass?

Every time Hill hits the deck, I expect to see Aaron Nelson running out onto the floor. In these three games, that guy has caused me to lose more hair than my daughter running around with her diapers showing (I know those other one-year-old boys are looking). When he caught the ball outside the stripe (for the one three he took), he actually looked around wondering if anyone on Cleveland was going to guard him. I'm not a scout or anything, but I promise you all that everyone in the NBA is daring him to take that shot. He needs to keep jacking it for another dozen games or so before that play gets put in the old deep freeze.

Raja finally hit a three and the crowd erupted louder than his game-tying shot in Game 5 against the Clippers. It was in front of the Cavs' bench, so I guess that's his spot. I understand he needs to shoot his way out of this slump, but they're still running plays for him. The staff really misses Iavaroni; he could've thought up a play for someone else.

Defensively, the Suns did well enough. The Cavs have a lot of big, lumbering guys. When Matrix plays intense D, he can guard Z or Gooden. Again, Diaw was serviceable on that end of the court. Hill did a decent job of "containing" James. The defense was adequate, but the defensive rebounding was extremely poor. If the Suns cleaned up the glass, they would've had the lead going into halftime and would've won handily.

The upcoming road trip should be a good thing. It will be good for the Suns to go beat up some Leastern Conference teams and get out of Phoenix. They should treat it like college football powerhouses beating up on lesser teams (sorry, Michigan fans) and just have some fun with it. Also, starting the games a little bit earlier (so we fans have to finish work before we can tune in and start criticizing the team) and playing out of Phoenix (so there's not as much pressure) should give a little more relaxed atmosphere.

Hey, look at it his way: the Suns didn't have 2 wins last year until the eighth game. Ahead. Of. Schedule.