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.