Suns Final Score: Phoenix Suns pummeled by Detroit Pistons, 117-77

Worst game I have seen in a long, long time.

For a young team, the Phoenix Suns are a really bad back-to-back team. Entering the game, they had lost all three back-to-back opportunities on the season. Those were both Miami games, and the Utah game (in Utah) after the huge comeback against Cleveland the night before.

Apparently, no matter how "young" these Suns are, they don't play well on consecutive days. Once again, they "built" a 14-point deficit in the first half and grew that to a 26-point deficit in the third before Gentry threw in the towel. Would the Suns make another comeback - #5 out of 14 opportunities on the season? Hell no.

After making 60% of their shots in the first quarter (9 for 15), the Suns shot less than 30% for the rest of the game. U.G.L.Y. They scored only 36 points in the second and third quarters combined. F-A-I-L-fail-fail-fail.

For those of you who called last night's 13-point win over Cleveland a terrible game, or one of the worst of the season, I implore you to enjoy life's little pleasures while they last. Why spend time complaining about a 13-point win? That's like getting a fiver from your grandma and bitching under your breath about the impact of cost of living increases.

At least this time, your complaints are justified. Have at it. Good on ya.

THIS was the worst Suns game of the season. Not one player came to play. Not one. Check me on that. Did anyone play to their potential tonight? Anyone on the Suns I mean?

Well at least we got to see some real action for Kendall Marshall and Wesley Johnson. Both players hit their first shots (Marshall's a 3), while the veterans like Dudley, Scola, Tucker and O'Neal continued to bumble and make mistakes.

Marshall stayed within the offense and made some nice passes but is not yet aggressive. Anyone thinking he can lead an NBA offense right now should look at the 4th quarter score: 36-17 Pistons.

Wesley Johnson really likes to shoot. He's not a passer, or anything else really. Just a shooter. He started well, but then got worse and worse. There is a reason he's on the deep bench.

The Pistons had a fun night, playing many of their best players because they were just playing so well until they'd built the lead to 29. Nice night for them, for sure.

But any game where Charlie Villanueva goes off and starts preening with a 30-point lead is not a game I EVER want to see again.

This sucks.

For any of you who want to read my first half notes, read on...

The Suns kept it close for a while in the first half, but when Jermaine O'Neal got hurt early in the second quarter the Suns defense deflated. A four-point Pistons lead quickly climbed to 14 while the Pistons hit shot after shot. They were the aggressor all night, and good things happen for the aggressor. They even passed the ball into tighter defense a few times and still the shots fell for them.

Once again, Gortat was passive. Sad, considering he had 16 points and 16 rebounds against this same front line just three weeks ago. He finished the first half with only 6 points, 3 rebounds, 0 blocks and 3 official turnovers in 16 minutes.

The game started with both good and bad. The Suns made 6 of their first 7 shots and shot 60% overall in the first quarter (including 4 for 6 on threes), but they turned it over NINE times and gave up 24 points on good shooting by the Pistons. The Pistons made both of their 3-point attempts in the first (and made 5 of 6 in the first half).

Several of those turnovers could be attributed to Marcin Gortat either losing the ball or missing the pass down low to him. Beasley and Dragic also got two fouls apiece within the first six minutes on the Pistons aggressive drives to the hoop. The first quarter ended 24-24 tie.

The bench, usually a huge plus for the Suns, gave up a 13-4 run from late in the first to early in the second - a bad sign for the Suns' chances in this game. The Pistons were just beating the Suns with aggression, and making big shots after big shots despite the Suns bench unit showing their usual level of effort.

The Pistons, who have one of the worst offenses in the league, went up by 14 points quicker than the Suns could stem the tide. But finally they did, if only a little, ending the half with an 11-point deficit.

The Suns shots selection in the second quarter rivaled their turnovers in the first. Which was worse? (Toss up) After Jermaine O'Neal left the game with a strained quad, the Suns took only just shots when Gortat returned. Could the team have been remembering the Polish Hammer's first-quarter turnovers? Maybe.

At the half, Markieff Morris led the Suns with 10 of their 44 points (8 in the first quarter) and the Suns had outrebounded the Pistons 23-19, including 11 offensive rebounds. But the Suns missed a lot of shots (including eight straight three-point attempts) and the Pistons made theirs (5 for 6).

The second half did not start well. The Suns started the half with four missed layups and two turnovers before they scored a bucket. The Pistons lead was 18 by that time and they weren't even trying very hard.

Then the Suns lost their cool (funny because they weren't working very hard, so what's to lose? Why not just play harder, huh?) and drew a couple of technical fouls. The Pistons began living at the free throw line and the Suns caved further.

Gentry finally decided that an 18-point deficit justified bringing back in the bench guys. Duh. What took so long, you know?

In the last four games, the Suns bench players had outscored the opponents' bench players 171-72. But not tonight. No, not tonight.

The bench was as bad as the starters, letting the lead grow to 24 before Gentry called in the deep-deep bench. Kendall Marshall got some run against NBA starters.