The Phoenix Suns have dug themselves such a big hole this season that what would otherwise be a normal, "it happens" kind of loss to the Detroit Pistons has turned into "another nail in the coffin" type of situation. Now the Suns are in Philadelphia to face a hot Sixers team who beat the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
The Sixers, you might recall, came into Phoenix on December 29 and handed the Suns one more more embarrassing losses of the season. That's saying something considering the season the Suns have had but when you get beat at home by a score of 123-110 against a team missing their best player...well, that ranks right up there with the worst.
The Suns used that defensive destruction as a rallying call and the coaching staff simplified the defensive schemes and cut a few superfluous players out of the rotation and from that point on Phoenix has gone 7-6 (over .500!) and held teams to 45.3 percent shooting which is pretty decent.
Tonight, the Sixers will be at full strength with the exception of Andres Nocioni who is listed as questionable due to a broken right middle finger. That means Steve Nash will have his hands full trying to guard speedy point guard Jrue Holliday and Louis Williams and Vince Carter will likely get completely shut down by defensive ace, Andre Iguodala. The Suns are going to need a strong shooting performance from Channing Frye to stretch the floor and some punch off the bench from Jared Dudley and Marcin Gortat.
With a win, the Suns have a chance to go 4-1 on this Eastern Conference road trip before heading back to the warm dessert for the season's longest home stand. After tonight, the Suns play 10 of their next 12 games at home with only one back-to-back.
This game tips off at 5:00 p.m. local time and will be broadcast on My45 TV and Sports 620 KTAR radio. Suns fans can follow along with the game at the Bright Side of the Sun live game thread as well.