While technically it hasn’t ever appeared on any stat sheets, there is little debate since Steve Nash’s return to the Valley in 2004, the Phoenix Suns have consistently led the league in a very important category – having fun. And despite getting off to an 11-6 record that helped Phoenix sit alongside the top teams in the Western Conference, speculation has surfaced that so far this season, fun hasn’t been very easy for this team to come by.

Taking a step towards rectifying that, Suns players along with several members of the front office, held a meeting following Saturday’s practice which included a unity-building activity. While what that activity entailed wasn’t discussed in detail publicly, Suns Head Coach Terry Porter said he was satisfied with the message it appeared to send to his players.

“It was a fun exercise and nothing like a therapy session involving guys lying on couches,” Porter said before Sunday night's game. “I think it was maybe a reality check to some guys and just a reminder that we’re a good team with a lot of good things going on and we can’t put the weight of the world on us because we lost a couple of games. We just need to come out in ballgames with a little more energy and looking to have a little more fun.”

Both energy and fun appeared to be at a season-high for Phoenix early in Sunday’s contest when they jumped out to a 14-4 start over New Jersey, and the team enjoyed their best scoring opening quarter of the year, finishing with 35 points. But while they failed to hang on - losing to the Nets for the first time at home since 1993 - Porter says the jury is still out whether or not Saturday’s meeting could prove to be a key moment for his 2008-09 ballclub.

“That’s yet to be determined. Whenever you run an exercise like that it’s for the long run and not something you expect to see any immediate results from. Having been a player who was once involved in those meetings, I know there’s a possibility you’ll eventually fall back into the same traps that caused you to have the meeting in the first place. The key for us is to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Porter went on to say that limiting such get-togethers throughout the course of an NBA season is also a key in the impact it could potentially have on a team.

“If you have 10-20 meetings like that, the message kind of gets diluted. I’m a believer in keeping things like that to a minimum because they’re obviously going to make a greater impact that way.”

Depsite Sunday's loss, optimists can take solace in the fact that Phoenix showed it can still run-and-gun with the best of them when at full strength, outscoring the Nets 35-24 in the opening stanza after being on the trailing end of a 32-19 first quarter on Friday night. The team was also forced to play the closing minutes without their leading scorer, Amar’e Stoudemire, who was ejected after picking up his second technical foul. Now Porter says it's just a matter of putting together a full four quarters of solid play and learning to finish out ballgames.

"I thought we played three pretty good quarters and then the fourth quarter really did us in," Porter said of Phoenix's 43-24 final period. "We started out great and I thought we had great rhythm. We just stopped being aggressive, stopped having ball movement, and attacking the basket."

NASH RETURNS TO SUNS LINEUP

Suns guard Steve Nash showed no lasting effects of the right thigh contusion that kept him out of the lineup on Friday against the Heat. The two-time MVP helped get things going for Phoenix early in Sunday’s ballgame and finished the contest with 26 points and nine assists. Following Sunday night’s loss at home, however, Nash’s focus wasn’t on his statistical line, but the outcome of the game.

“We had good energy and we had a good first half," the Suns All-Star said. "We gave away some opportunities in the first half to have a bigger lead and I think the same was true in the second half and it came back to hurt us. There was a stretch there where they got hot and – it was a very tough loss.”

New Jersey wasted no time contesting Nash's mobility early, attacking him on the offensive end of the floor with their speedy playmaker, Devin Harris, who finished with a career-high 47 points. But while Nash will have two additional days to rest before Phoenix's next contest, as Terry Porter pointed out, he doesn’t expect things to get any easier for the Suns guard any time soon.

“Tonight we needed to make sure Steve was able to move laterally without discomfort,” Porter said. “When we play against teams like Dallas and New Orleans this week, teams who run a lot of pick-and-rolls, that ability to move laterally will be tested and we want to make sure he’s ready for it.”

NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT

The Suns dropped their first contest at home to the Nets tonight since March 13, 1993 – the first-ever matchup at the then-America West Arena and now-US Airways Center. Phoenix’s roster has undergone some changes since that time, but several players on that Suns team were still in the house tonight for the Sunday evening affair.

Dan Majerle is now an assistant coach with the team, Mark West is the Suns Vice President of Player Programs, Cedric Ceballos is the arena emcee, Tom Chambers is a Suns pregame television host and Tim Kempton is a Suns radio analyst.

The Suns bounced back rather well from that regular season loss, eventually earning a trip to the 1993 NBA Finals where they faced off against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.