Schedule Not Doing the Suns Any Favors

PHOENIX -- For the second time this season, the Suns will be forced to play the Lakers under less-than-ideal circumstances. Phoenix returned home from an East coast road trip on Saturday, to play just a single game, before heading out to Los Angeles for a contest against the world champs on the second night of a back-to-back.

The last time this happened, back on November 12, the Suns weren't really able to compete, and were run off the floor 121-102 by an energetic Lakers squad playing after three days of rest. And that was before Pau Gasol was back.

This hardly seems fair, but it's a microcosm of what the Suns' early-season schedule has looked like thus far.

The Suns' schedule has them opening the season with 17 of the their first 26 games on the road. Three of the team's five losses have come against the league's elite (Orlando, L.A., and Cleveland), on the road, on the second night of a back-to-back. And while the schedule is not something the team is going to complain about or use as an excuse, it definitely is something that's been noticed.

"This is the second time that we've come home and played a game and had to get on a plane that night and fly, and play the same team, the Lakers," said Phoenix's head coach, Alvin Gentry. "So I don't think you want to be in a situation where you're playing at home and then getting to a place at 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning, and then have to line up the next day to play, of all teams, the Lakers.

"It's not been a good situation for us. We're not using it as an excuse, but it's just reality."

Amar'e Stoudemire, who grabbed 21 rebounds in the Suns' Saturday win over the Kings, thinks his team's schedule is up there with the toughest he's faced in his entire career, now in its eighth season.

"It's been a crazy schedule for us so far," Stoudemire said. "A lot of traveling, a lot of back-to-back games, we've played tough teams on back-to-back nights. It might be the toughest schedule I've been a part of my whole career. But I think it's a matter of us continuing to get better out there, and take those games like [Sunday's against the Lakers] as a challenge."

On paper, that challenge would appear to be too great for the Suns to overcome.

The starters were forced to play heavy minutes to secure Saturday's win over a scrappy Sacramento team -- Grant Hill and Steve Nash logged 38 apiece, Channing Frye played 44, and Stoudemire played 41. And remember, the Suns' bench is missing Leandro Barbosa and his 11 points per game due to an ankle injury.

Still, nothing is guaranteed in this league, which is why Phoenix believes attitude and confidence are as important as anything when you're put in a situation like this.

"That should just be the goal, to go in there with an attitude that we can win the game," Nash said. "No matter if it's another back-to-back or whatever, we've just got to go out there with a positive attitude, play our [tails] off, and give ourselves a chance to win the game."

Stoudemire echoed those sentiments.

"The last game [against L.A.] we just got out-confidenced," Stoudemire said. "We're going to be okay, we've just got to go out there and fight."

As brutal as the schedule has been, it gets even tougher in December. The Suns get Cleveland twice, the Lakers twice, Dallas, Orlando, Denver, San Antonio, and Boston. But if they can just get a split against the elite, and beat who they're supposed to along the way, they'll be in great shape in the second half of the season, when things (presumably) will be a little more manageable.

But again, it's not like the team is complaining. At 15-5, the Suns have performed better than expected, and honestly, have made it through relatively unscathed.