Phoenix Suns Regulars Manage Win Over Golden State Warriors, 92-87

Steve Nash looked ready for the season, scoring points on his usual complement of crazy mid-range shots when the defense over-played his passes and collapsed on the pick and roll with an extra defender.

Nash "only" had four assists in large part to the incredibly poor three-point shooting of his teammates. Shooting 5-for-24 (21 percent) isn't going to loosen up many teams' rotations and keep them honest. Credit the Warriors for an effective and active defense but we saw the Suns beat the same game plan last season by hitting those shots.

Fortunately, the "new" Phoenix defense which coach Alvin Gentry is saying needs to be "great" looked fairly great in this game. Granted, it's preseason and the Warriors played the previous night -- and it's the Warriors -- but the effort was there to disrupt the Golden State plays and force tough shots. 

Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry made their share of those tough contested shots but in the end, solid defense got the job done and held the Warriors to only 33 percent shooting.

Robin Lopez chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds, but still doesn't look great on the floor. He's less explosive to the rim than we've seen him and at times he allowed his man to beat him for an offensive rebound.

Tough break

Bad news for the Suns came in the form of Josh Childress breaking the tip of his right index finger when he hit the rim on a dunk attempt. After the game his immediate reaction was that he could play through it but within no time the team put out an official announcement saying he would take a week off and then be evaluated. It does seem that he will be able to play through the injury, but there's no telling how much it will effect his game.

Roster cuts

The Suns announced after the game that they waived Dwayne Jones and Zabian Dowdell, bringing the roster down to 14. It would seem that Matt Janning and Garret Siler will make the team. 

Phoenix Suns Vow To Get Serious About Preseason, Face Golden State Warriors At Home, 7 P.M. AZT

This time they mean it.

All that other preseason stuff, with its 1-5 record, bottom five in offensive and defensive efficiency, worst three point shooting, second-to-worst (thanks, Knicks!) rebounding ... forgetabout it. 

The Phoenix Suns are ready to get ready for the regular season and that starts tonight against Louis Amundson's Golden State Warriors. Head coach Alvin Gentry said he will play his starters 30 minutes and go with a normal 10-man rotation. 

It's time to see what this team is really all about.

That should be interesting in and of itself, but tonight's opponent also brings some intrigue to the court.

How will the Warriors look now that Don Nelson has officially retired to the land of cold Bud Light? Can the Stephen Curry / Monta Ellis backcourt do more than take turns scoring a lot of points? Is David Lee going to excel or devolve now that he's out of the bright lights of New York City? Has Andris Biedrins gone away from the spiky flattop to more of the floppy-haired look like Kirilenko?

Unfortunately, the Warriors will be without a major (or at least partial) piece to their puzzle. Lou Amundson broke his finger in a recent preseason game and is in need of surgery.