FArting
Lopes Up!
With a pair of aging stars apparently on the decline, the Phoenix Suns are off to their worst start in five years.
They're hoping a midseason shakeup -- headlined by the acquisition of a new weapon -- will help.
Jason Richardson could be in the Suns' lineup for the first time when the red-hot Orlando Magic visit Phoenix on Friday, two days after general manager Steve Kerr pulled the trigger on a major five-player trade.The Suns (13-10) have reached 10 losses faster than in any season since 2003-04 -- the last time they missed the playoffs -- and part of the problem has been declining production from a pair of former league MVPs.
Point guard Steve Nash, 34, is averaging 15.0 points and 8.4 points -- both his lowest in five seasons -- while 36-year-old Shaquille O'Neal's 15.4 points per game are nearly 10 below his career average.Those numbers may have guided Kerr on Wednesday, when he traded veteran role players Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, along with reserve point guard Sean Singletary, to Charlotte in exchange for Richardson, forward Jared Dudley and a draft pick.
"We felt like we needed to shake things up a little bit," Kerr said. "We wanted to add a great scorer in the backcourt to give us better balance to take some of the pressure off of Steve."That's what the Suns hope they have in Richardson, who averaged 18.7 points and shot 45.8 percent from 3-point range in 14 games for Charlotte this season despite arthroscopic knee surgery.
Richardson, who has averaged more than 21 points in three of the last four seasons, said he's excited to play on a team that has been to four consecutive playoffs, averaging 58 regular-season wins during that span."I've always been on rebuilding teams," Richardson told the Suns' official Web site. "I've only been to the playoffs once. I've never really won anything, but I think I can bring a lot to this team and have a special season."Phoenix will also have to adjust to the losses of fixtures Bell and Diaw."When you lose two of your best friends on the team, it's hard," Nash said. "We're not only recreating chemistry, we're changing our style. But we've got lots of time to build."
Without players from either end of the trade, the shorthanded Suns lost 115-110 at the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. They were also lacking O'Neal, who is expected to miss Friday's game as well after his great-grandmother died this week.Matt Barnes had 25 points, Grant Hill added 23 and Amare Stoudemire scored 21 against the Lakers, but Phoenix still lost for the fifth time in its last seven games and allowed more than 100 points for the eighth straight contest.They'll face another stiff test in the streaking Magic (17-5). Orlando has won four straight and 13 of 15, opening its five-game Western road trip with wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland.
Rashard Lewis scored 27 points, shooting 6 of 9 from 3-point range in Tuesday's 109-108 victory over the Trail Blazers, but it was Hedo Turkoglu's banked-in 3 in the final second that gave Orlando the dramatic victory. The play had been designed to go to either Lewis or Jameer Nelson."That was just brilliant, brilliant coaching down the stretch," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said, sarcastically. "If you're (the Blazers), you've got to roll your eyes, because we threw one in."The Magic are shooting 46.5 percent (47 of 101) from 3-point range during their four-game winning streak.They're also the NBA's second-best road team at 8-2, but they've lost six in a row in Phoenix and five straight to the Suns overall.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=281212021
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