Age, Injuries Catching Up With Nash

PHOENIX -- At 36, Steve Nash is playing some of the best basketball of his career. He leads the league in assists at 11.3 per game and has his Suns overachieving in the eyes of many, currently sitting fifth in the Western Conference playoff picture.

But just how much longer Nash can continue to play at such a high level remains to be seen -- especially late in games, when both the fatigue of the season and the cumulative effect of playing through abdominal and back injuries begins to take its toll.

In Thursday's loss to the Jazz, the Suns jumped on the visitors early and quickly grabbed a 10-point lead that lasted for most of the game. Phoenix held that lead with seven minutes to play before getting run off their own floor in a blistering 28-10 stretch that Utah used to turn the game's final result in its favor.

"I really thought we ran out of gas there at the end," Gentry said. "And that's really asking a lot of Grant and Steve. Although they didn't play a lot of minutes [Wednesday in Los Angeles], they were still on a flight, and they get back in at two in the morning. I'm not making excuses for them, but it's just a fact."

While Nash finished with 14 points and 15 assists, his fourth quarter was forgettable -- especially when compared side-by-side with what Deron Williams did for the Jazz.

After sitting the final six-plus minutes of the third quarter due to foul trouble, Nash played all 12 minutes of the fourth. But in that period, he went 0-for-3 from the field, handed out four assists and committed two turnovers. Williams, on the other hand, was a monster late, scoring 13 points in the final quarter on 5-of-8 shooting, handing out two assists with just one turnover -- all while being defended by Nash.

"It's mentally fatiguing to play physically at a deficit for so long. I can't do the things I want to do, and it's painful out there."
- Steve Nash Most players avoid discussing at length any injuries they're dealing with, at least while they're on the court trying to play through pain. Many see it as a sign of weakness, or perhaps worry their peers will see them as looking for excuses. But Nash was surprisingly candid after this one, talking about the fact that at this point in the season, his body simply won't allow him to play at the level he's accustomed to.

"It's mentally fatiguing to play physically at a deficit for so long," Nash said. "I can't do the things I want to do and it's painful out there. But I've got to find a way to suck it up right now, especially with [Goran Dragic] out."

Dragic sprained his right ankle against the Clippers on Wednesday, and while he might be back as early as Saturday, the fact that the team is thin at the one means that Nash had to play more than usual down the stretch. But sitting the last half of the third quarter didn't have any affect on how he was feeling in the fourth.

"I'm sore when I wake up in the morning," Nash said. "So it's just something I've got to try to fight through. Hopefully it can get better, and I'm sure four [games] in five nights didn't help.

"I can't do what I want to do out there, and I'm just trying to do what I can to help the team. Hopefully, I'm not hurting the team."

It's hard to imagine a scenario when Nash could hurt his team. Even in stretches where his opponent goes off due to Nash's struggles on the defensive end, he usually more than makes up for it offensively. In the first quarter against the Jazz, while Williams had eight points and four assists, Nash canceled him out with seven and six of his own.

The turnovers, however, have been up this season. And that may be an example of Nash no longer being able to do the things he wants to out on the court, especially when his quickness and movement are limited by his sore back.

"I just have no thrust," Nash said. "Every movement my back tightens, it tries to stop me from going somewhere.

"Our training staff does a great job to even get me out there at all."

Despite Nash's physical limitations, he's largely still finding a way to get it done for his team. On the second game of a back-to-back he might continue to struggle, but remember, there are no back-to-back games in the playoffs. And after Saturday's home contest against the Pacers, Nash will have five days to rest and receive treatment before the team resumes play next Friday at home against the Lakers.

"That would be nice to finish those five days and feel a lot better, but who knows," Nash said. "I've just got to try to stay positive and keep battling it and not let it get the best of me mentally, because we've got a lot of important games coming up.

"It's not a lot of fun to play like this, but no one feels sorry for you in the Western Conference."