Analysis: Suns in 'dark place' after latest loss

DALLAS -- There's not much positive to be gleamed when a Sun goes dark.

That's the current state of the Suns. Phoenix's philosophical voice, Steve Nash, painted an uneasy picture of a team struggling to believe and devoid of a fighting spirit after the Mavericks rolled through the Suns.

The 112-97 loss Thursday night is the fourth straight for Phoenix, its longest losing streak in two years. But the losses in themselves aren't the issue. Not competing is gnawing at the ultra-competitive two-time MVP.

"Right now we're in a dark place," Nash sighed, "but we've got to believe in each other."

Belief seems to be a scarce commodity lately in the Valley. The fading Suns (11-9) are an identity-challenged group and more than willing to talk about all that doesn't work. Amar'e Stoudemire wants to be the focal point of the offense again. Nash admitted the team is uncertain with new coach Terry Porter's system.

It's not Mike D'Antoni's "seven second or less." And it's not a walk-it-up, dump-it-to-Shaq scheme. Ideally, it's somewhere in between, with an added defensive mentality. That hasn't happened and the Suns can't seem to do what they do best.

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	Behind Dirk Nowitzki's 39 points, the Mavericks cruised past the reeling Suns 112-97, handing Phoenix its fourth straight loss. Play 2:16

Shaquille O'Neal, taking it all in, has heard enough. If his teammates want to run, go ahead and run. He's not about to slow them down. But just talking about running isn't going to get it done. If everyone wants to run again, Shaq included, why can't they?

"I don't really have an answer for why we haven't been unable to run," Raja Bell acknowledged. "Steve and Terry have both said recently that they want us to run and they want to pick up the tempo.

"It's one of those things that people take for granted that running is a natural thing. That you can just hop out on the court, run-and-gun and play well. We worked hard at that."

If the Suns are looking for positives after Dallas turned them into road kill, effort won't top the list. The Mavericks were the ones rebounding and running, ending a lousy New Orleans-Dallas back-to-back for Phoenix.

Dirk Nowitzki set the pace early for the Mavs in his personal matchup with Stoudemire. The two All-Star power forwards traded baskets throughout the first half, but the difference was how those baskets were coming.

The Mavs (10-8) were picking-and-popping, and Nowitzki (39 points) was hardly the only one shooting in rhythm. Jason Terry (19) and surprise starter Jose Barea (18) were also in the act. Dallas enjoyed as much as a 23-point lead in the second quarter and was shooting 53 percent at the break.

"From start to finish, the energy level was good," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said after his team won for the eighth time in nine starts.

The Suns, by contrast, labored. Seven pounds lighter after a bout with the flu in New Orleans, Nash gamely stepped up along with Stoudemire. Take out those two and the rest of the team shot 5 of 21 in the first half.

Though the Suns made a few spurts in the second half to get the deficit to a manageable level, Nash took little solace. The runs felt empty. The fight just wasn't there. And he added it hasn't been there consistently all season.

Not that the Suns aren't trying to make this work. Their regular-season success under D'Antoni didn't translate into the playoffs, though bad luck certainly played a part in Phoenix's postseason shortcomings. Porter has felt that situations beyond his control -- injuries, suspensions and personal tragedies -- knocked his train off track a bit.

"I didn't know we would have all the adversity we've had to face," Porter said.

The thing is much of that adversity happened while the Suns were winning. They're not now or running either. Phoenix has lost a sense of itself. At their core, the Suns were built and born to run.

They've been able to do it before, even with Shaq. Phoenix actually averaged more fastbreak points after trading for the Big Cactus last season. So, as Shaq reminded, he's not the problem.

"For whatever reason we didn't start the season off [running] and we kinda got away from doing it," Bell added. "It's almost like we forgot how to do it."

The Suns have 62 games left to remember.

"There are too many positive things about our squad, our situation, to give up on it," Nash offered.

His tone defiantly wasn't defiant. Whether it's true or not, one might take those words as Nash trying to convince himself that it'll get better. The Sun rises every morning.

Doesn't it?