And the losing continues. The Phoenix Suns, after falling to the Chicago Bulls in a close-ish 97-94 game, are now creeping precipitously close to the furtherest they've been below .500 (which was 14-20 back on January 7). This was not a game in which anyone expected a victory, however, as the Bulls are 34-5 at home and one of the hottest teams in the league heading towards the playoffs.
Phoenix kept things close to start out the game, leading for most of the first quarter before ending it trailing by one. But it was all downhill when the reserves were inserted into the game. By halftime, the Suns were down by 13, a deficit that was pushed to 22 in the third quarter. Like a bored cat playing with its food, the Bulls let Phoenix back into it in the fourth quarter, who eventually closed the gap to two points. By then, however, the damage was done and Steve Nash and his buddies were left with another deflating L in a season full of them.
Leading the Suns, Nash had 16 assists after missing the past two games with flu-like symptoms, Marcin Gortat had another double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds), "fan favorite" Vince "Dribble Into The Double-Team Then Shoot a Contested Fade-away" Carter scored a lot of points in a loss (23 on 9-for-22 shooting), Channing Frye had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Robin Lopez had an impressive four personal fouls in three minutes of play.
Grant Hill did manage to keep potential league MVP Derrick Rose under control for the most part, limiting him to 19 points on 6-for-15 shooting and only four assists. So that's good.
At this point, the team is really only playing for pride and supposedly comebacks from large deficits show that there's pride and fight left. But what does it say getting down by 22 points in the first place? This is a team with an eye toward the offseason, and can only manage bits and pieces of "fight" and "grit," which may be enough to get them back to .500 before the season's end.