After struggling to regain their competitive form since losing Amare Stoudemire to Free Agency, the Suns are finally starting to get their acts together fueled by new found team chemistry upon the arrival of Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mikael Pietrus as they try to make a run to qualify for the play-offs.
The big trade that sent Jason Richardson and Earl Clark to Orlando seemed to have ignited the competitive flare of Phoenix as the team is jelling just at the right time to engineer an attempt to make it the post season after an anemic start for the year.
Vince Carter wasted little time showcasing his offensive arsenal in the Valley of the Suns as exemplified by their lights out performance against the Amare Stoudemire led New York Knicks at the Madison Square Garden just this past month.
Gortat and Pietrus meanwhile, provided the defensive toughness that the team lacked for majority of the season as well as rebounding and unselfish playing style and the trio seemed comfortable playing side by side with two-time MVP Steve Nash in the open court.
Another factor in this recent brilliance is the resurgence of Grant Hill who seemed to have a fountain of youth as he took up the role of being a steady force in the offense from the outside or taking it strong to the rim. Hill made it to past the first round of the play-offs for the first time last year as the team went on to the Western Conference Finals only to fall to eventual champions Los Angeles Lakers.
Phoenix have won 7 of their last 9 games before getting stopped by the Dallas Mavericks last night but they still have to play to a higher level as they are still behind the Memphis Grizzlies who are on a rampage of their own for the 8th seed in the Western Conference.
There is still time to catch up though, as the NBA calendar comes down to the latter part of the season.
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