First, lets start with the good news. The Suns are 4-1 under new coach Alvin Gentry and are only one game behind Dallas for the eighth and final playoff spot. Phoenix is back to the run and gun offense; or as I have heard it coined “7 seconds or Shaq”. They have averaged a robust 128.6 points per game in last five while still giving up 113 points per game.

Now here comes the bad news; the Suns are without leading scoring Amare Stoudemire for the rest of the season. In addition, Steve Nash rolled his ankle against the Charlotte Bobcats last night and may miss some games in a crucial and brutal stretch for the Phoenix Suns. Over the next 3 weeks the Suns these teams (in chronological order), Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers. In this nine game stretch they only play one team with a losing record (Toronto) and two teams with worse records than the Suns currently (Miami and Toronto). If the Suns can not go at least 5-4 during this stretch they can basically say goodbye to any playoff hopes.

If Steve Nash is out at all during this stretch, it could spell certain doom for the Suns chances of even making the playoffs. With all the criticism on Nash’s defense; he is still the engine that drives the Suns and without him they are basically lost on offense. I hope for the Suns sake that he can at least give it go and give them a legitimate chance of beating some of the teams above. This stretch is truly a great litmus test for the new-old identity laden Suns.