Steve Nash heaped praise on his teammates following their elimination at the hands of the Lakers on Saturday night and added that he would love to see the team stick together.

"It's pretty clear I'd like to keep the group together," Nash said. "It's phenomenal to come to work every day with the group of guys we had, everyone fighting for the same thing, proving when you commit to one another and to what we're trying to do, you know, you really can -- all the clich?s really are true. You can maybe be greater than the sum of your parts."

Phoenix forward Amar'e Stoudemire can opt out of the final year of his contract, which will pay him $17.7 million.