Phoenix Suns: Suns lose to Clippers and fall three games behind 0.50

It's a long season. As a fan of the Phoenix Suns, you have to keep reminding yourself that. And after the loss today, 108-103 to the Clippers at Los Angeles, the Suns find themselves three games behind .500 for the first time since I can remember. Fortunatelly, we still have 53 games on the season and we can (and will) perform better. I still think we're gonna reach the 50 win mark, but it'll take us playing much more better than we did today.

Pietrus was the player of the game for the Suns, with 25 points off the benc

Today's game was disastrous in the beggining. The Suns didn't start with any kind of ennergy and effort and found themselves trailing early in double digits. Blake Griffin was unbelievable. He had at least three highlight dunks, one of them an alley-oop over the 7-footer Gortat. He is just a monster. Carried by the new additions, Gortat and Pietrus, we played with much more intensity and sharpness on the second half and made this a game. But we didn't get a shot to go in the final seconds and the Clippers won, very deservedly.

The positive notes were Steve Nash, as usual, and the duo Gortat/Pietrus. Nash went for 21/4/15 and no turnovers in 36 minutes. He didn't shoot the ball all that well (8-19), but had a great game overall. Pietrus was on fire. He knocked down five three-pointers and had 25 points off the bench. Gortat had 11 points and five rebounds, playing more confortable in his second game with the team and showing a nice touch offensively. Grant Hill was very active, battling Blake Griffin on the boards and all over the court. He missed a lot of shots in the 4th quarter, but it happens when you are the oldest player on the team and plays the most minutes (37).

One thing I cannot answer is why Robin Lopez only played 9 minutes. He wasn't knocking his shots regularly, but he played so little time that it was impossible to him to get some rythim. It is certainly up to Gentry to answer that one. The most unimpressive player on the court was Warrick. I don't know what is happening with him, because he was playing so good on the start of the season. I know he doesn't defend, but he still managed to put some points on the board. Today he did nothing. Childress also didn't play very well, but at least he was trying. I don't know what else to say. Seems to me that our off season acquisitions need a lot more time to fit in.

We had a bad loss today. The Clippers are a talented and athletic team, but they were 8-22 and there was a reason for that. We now have three games in a row against other lowly teams - Philadelphia, Detroit and Sacramento - and we need desperately to win those. Then we face the Lakers, who are sucking right now by their own means. I hope the debut of Vince Carter can give us a lift starting Wednesday. We just need to get through this rough time and get some wins - even if they're ugly - until we start performing on the level we know we can get.

Player of the Game:

Mickael Pietrus - 25 points, 3 rebounds, 5/8 3PT-FG

Box Score