Chef Steve Nash with 18 dishes against the Raps

Suns 117, Raps 113

The good news is that the Raps next nine games include seven against the Eastern Coference. So this is a the stretch where the Raps can either make or break their season. Yesterday, Triano made some lineup changes putting Anthony Parker as the starting point guard and puttting Joey Graham as the starting shooting guard. Apparently, these guys along with Bosh, Bargs and Moon were the only ones who could get it going in the fourth of the Raps-Pacers game.

The Raps came out swinging in this one starting off with 18-6 start over the Suns as this would be a high scoring affair. Then the Terry Porter Phoenix Suns looked more like the D'Antoni Suns Sunday afternoon as J-Rich hit a three to lead the Suns to five buckets in a row to get up on the Raps 27-26. Phoenix would continue the hot streak going on a 21-9 run to get up 36-34. The Raps would shoot a hot 64% but the defense let Phoenix shoot a sweltering 72%. The hot offense continued until halftime, the Phoenix Suns led 71-67.......at halftime, yes halftime. Steve Nash was scoreless at the half but had 11 assists.

Here's a funny little clip from the first half: Steve Nash gets a Little Offended by Chris Bosh's Mouth Funk

The second half started with Chris Bosh playing Shaq one on one in the post and Bosh got just got swatted. Anthony Parker and Joey Graham continued to play well as the Raps stayed in this one, down only eight after three. In the fourth, Jamario Moon hit a three to make it a five point game and then Joey Graham nailed a jumper for a career high 20 pts. The Raps got within two, 102-100. Joey Graham nailed another jumper to make it a tie game. There was a scary moment when Bosh hit a rainbow jumper over Shaq, but when coming down, Chris Bosh landed on Shaq's big-ass shoe. It looked pretty nasty but Bosh was able to wak it off. Jamario Moon had a crazy putback slam out of nowhere to get within three, 114-111. But in the next Raps possession, Anthony Parker would throw it away, turning the ball over leading to a Nash missed wide open three. AP redeemed himself to get back within one. During the closing seconds, Nash drew Bosh in, then drove passed him for the layup to go up 116-113. In the last seconds for the Raps, it was a lot of chaos of offensive boards trying to tip it in but the shots just didnt fall. Kid Canada wins in Canada 117-113.

Key Notes:
AP & Joey Graham were huge: AP: 26/7/5, Joey Graham: 22/7/4
Amare Stoudemire 31 pts, 6 reb
Steve Nash had 9 pts and a season high 18 assists

Raps play the Hawks on MLK Day, Monday afternoon.

Photo credit: (Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images)

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SUCKA FREE 2: Who didn't suck in the NBA last week

If you want to see which NBA blogs that didn't suck check out hoopsaddict.com's Carnival of the NBA #62 Suprisingly, we made the list.

Who didn't suck in the NBA last week? Here are your un-sucky teams and players for last week:

Joe Johnson, Atlanta Hawks
Last Week: 30.5 pts, 7 reb, 9.5 assists, 1.5 steals
The Atlanta Hawks have won four straight all thanks to Joe Johnson. The Hawks have been on a 7-game home stand and Joe Johnson went off for 41 against the Bulls and had a triple double (20, 11 & 11) against the Thunder.


Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
Last Week: Averaged 29 pts, 5 asst, 6 reb and 2 stls
Flash led the Heat to 2 wins in three games last week knocking off the Warriors and Bulls.


Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats
Last Week: Averaged 22 pts, 12 boards and almost 3 blocks
Emeka had a monster game against the Wizards last week scoring 29pts with 18rebounds and 3 blocks.

Shaquille O'Neal/Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns
Last Week: The duo combined for 48 pts, 15 rebounds, 3 steals and 6 blocks in their lone game against the Spurs.
The game resulted in a one-point loss for the Suns on Christmas Day but the towering duo led the Suns throughout the game until the Roger Mason buzzer beater three in the closing seconds.

Jermaine O'Neal, Toronto Raptors
Last Week: Averaged 25 pts, 7 boards, 2 steals and 3.3 blocks
J.O. looked like the old Indiana Pacers All-Star as he was a defensive presence for the Raptors and had a big game with 36 pts and 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks against the Sacramento Kings.

Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland has been the hot team and have won six straight knocking off big opponents like the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets. Lebron James was named Player of the Week last week and the Cavs have their best franchise start with their 25-4 record.

Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic sit on top of the Southeast division and have wont 7 straight. Last week they knocked off the New Orleans Hornets by 20 points and are winners of the last 11 of 12.

San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs have won their last five games and seem to have got their groove back. Squeezing out a one point win against the Phoenix Suns on Christmas Day and a 3-point win against the Memphis Grizzles. They are 0.5 game ahead of the New Orleans Hornets and Houston Rockets in the Southwest Division.





Photo Credit: (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)

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