For the first time ever, a week-long series of games featuring regional contests, divisional games and historic playoff matchups highlight the NBA schedule as part of Rivalry Week, which runs through Wednesday, March 2. NBA.com asked current players, NBA Legends and WNBA players what they thought was the best team rivalry in the game today.

ALEX ENGLISH, Denver Nuggets Legend
"Out west I used to say the Spurs and the Lakers. Now, I would say the Spurs and any of the top two teams: Phoenix and Seattle."

GILBERT ARENAS, Washington Wizards
"Besides us and Miami? Me and Dwyane, we got our little thing going: buddies off the floor, warriors on the floor. I wanted to say Indiana-Detroit ... but it?s not a game without Ron Artest. When Ron?s there you can expect anything to happen. That?s the biggest rivalry. The Phoenix Suns against the Seattle SuperSonics could be the best matchup."

The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers also received votes due to the ongoing fued between Kobe and Shaq.

Forget the controversial last shot the Mavericks took that careened out of bounds, Marion blocked Nowitzki; it was a feat of athleticism that only Marion could produce.  The Phoenix Suns not only beat one of the top teams in the West, they did it without their slashing, scoring, dime-throwin point guard Steve Nash.  They did it minus his league leading 11.45 assists per game.  Previously the Suns were only 1-2 without Nash, their lone win coming against the Los Angeles Clippers.  It can be agreed upon that in each game, the Suns did not seem the same.

So now we know the Suns can win without Nash.  Now when is Nash coming back?  His strained right hamstring continues to bother him, and while a half-speed Nash is still pretty solid, it does not come close to a Steve Nash who is at full-speed.  At full-speed Nash dictates the tempo and runs the Suns.  A full-speed Nash is vital if the Suns hope to advance far into the playoffs this season, great record or not.  There is a lot of talk about the Suns making a run for Gary Payton provided the Hawks buy out his contract.  Gary Payton would be a nice addition, but cannot, and will not replace Steve Nash.  At this juncture, there is no player that can replace Mr. Nash.  Remember, this is Nash?s MVP season.  

Today versus Boston was a different story as the Suns lost a 120-113 heartbreaker in overtime.  Newly re-acquired Antoine Walker torched the Suns with a monstrous effort scoring 33 points (on 33 shots), grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists.  The good news was that the Suns managed to take it to overtime; the bad news is they were outscored 14-7 in that overtime.

If Atlanta buys out newly acquired Gary Payton?s contract, the Suns are likely to make a move to bring the veteran their way.  Payton wants to play for a winner and Phoenix has certainly proved themselves to be a contender.

If Nash does manage to stay healthy, Payton would provided the Suns with much needed depth.    

Payton spent last season with the Los Angeles Lakers in hopes of finally winning a championship.  He led the Sonics to the Finals versus the Chicago Bulls, but were defeated in 6 games.

Steve Nash, the cog that keeps the Suns machine rolling, will make a game-time decision as to whether he will play in tonight?s game versus the surging Dallas Mavericks.

Nash is at the mercy of his ailing left hamstring which kept him out of practice yesterday.

"Hamstrings are a little tricky," Nash said Friday before the Suns departed to Dallas for tonight's game against the Mavericks. "Every day you can work as hard as you can to get it better, but it's going to be ready when it's ready."

"I know he (Nash) wants to play, but he'll be smart enough to make a good decision," coach Mike D'Antoni said.

The Phoenix Suns returned to play and despite being without Steve Nash, started where they left off, defeating the Clippers 118-101.

Leandro Barbosa, played in place of the injured Nash and scored a season-high 22 points.

``I'm going to call him 'Young Triggerman Jr.' now,'' teammate Quentin Richardson said of Barbosa.

``The guys gave me a lot of confidence,'' Barbosa said. ``Also, my coach gave me a lot of confidence. I had a little more playing time than usual and I felt very comfortable. I just let a lot of things happen and tonight, everything good happened to me.''

Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo has said that his team is interested in hosting the All-Star Game at America West Arena to NBA Officials.

"I?m very hopeful it will happen," Colangelo said.

Ski Austin, the NBA?s senior vice president of events and attractions, said the league has not requested official bids for the 2009 game, but when asked about the Valley?s chances, he said, "The truth is, we (the NBA) love Phoenix. We?re very receptive to anything the Suns want to put on the table. I?d say it?s something we definitely want to explore."

The Phoenix Suns club president Rick Welts announced a 9.4 percent increase for season tickets bring the average ticket to $54.13 excluding floor seats and loge boxes.  

This new pricing will put the Suns tickets at just above the league average.  

"We?ll move from the lower half to a couple of notches above the middle," Welts said.

The Suns are also adding two rows to their courtside seating.  

Welts said the Suns faced an identical situation last year, when they created the courtside seating. The relocation process created a number of complaints.

"Our fans told us they felt there was a more fair and equitable way to handle this situation by simply moving all season ticket holders back two rows," Welts said. "We listened, and that is the plan we have in place for next season."

Quentin Richardson was a surprise winner in Saturday night's 3-point contest.  

The contest featured former winners Ray Allen and Voshon Lenard, as well as newcomer Kyle Korver, but Richardson made his final nine attempts to beat Korver and Lenard in the finals.

In the skill challenge, Steve Nash won convincingly, defeating Earl Boykins in the finals.  Baron Davis won last year's competition.

There are many deserving players for this year?s MVP award and at the end of the season it is going to be a very tough choice if things continue at their current pace.  Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire have been instrumental in making the Suns one of the top three teams in the NBA after a dismal 2003-2004 season.  Ray Allen is the leading scorer for another turnaround team, the Seattle Supersonics.  Tim Duncan and Garnett are solid along with Shaq and LeBron.

Tim Duncan has already picked his MVP, given the choice he would take Steve Nash.  Without Nash the Suns are not the high-powered offense they are with him, this was blatant in watching the Suns struggle while Nash was injured.  Along with the endorsement of one of the NBA?s best big men, Nash was also on Kevin Garnett?s list for MVP.

The Dallas Mavericks went in to Phoenix and out ran the Suns winning 119-113 Thursday night.  The last victory before the All-Star break marks a perfect four-game trip against some very tough opponents ? Phoenix, Sacramento and Seattle.  Golden State was also included on the trip.

Against Phoenix, Finley reemerged to lead Dallas with 33 points, 25 coming in the second half.