The Phoenix Suns, similar to the loss in Houston on Monday, got down big on the road and battled back but couldn't get over the hump at the end. It was a night that saw the return of Steve Nash after missing two games with an injury but against a smart defensive game from New Orleans Hornets' coach Monty Williams, the Suns only shot 43 percent from the field and committed 17 turnovers.
Defensively, the Suns did as well as could be excepted given the lack of size at power forward and Nash's inability to stay with Chris Paul. Paul lead scorers with 26 points on the night and David West put up 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter against a Suns lineup that featured center Marcin Gortat and a mixture of wing players trying to defend a bigger man.
The effort was there and the Suns benefited from another gutty performance from Jared Dudley (25 points, 8 rebounds) but the bigs were shut down by Emeka Okafor in the paint and the expected scoring punch from Aaron Brooks has yet to arrive. Brooks finished with just one assist and six points on 2-7 shooting in 13 minutes of disappointing play.
The Suns could get a boost on Friday against the Golden State Warriors as Channing Frye could return early from his dislocated shoulder. The Suns are 1-4 without him and miss both his shooting and interior defense and rebounding.