As Shaq Rests, Suns Struggle to Win in OKC

Suns' coach Terry Porter has made it clear that when his team is facing back-to-back games against even one opponent that is supposed to be sub-par, Shaquille O'Neal is going to get a night off. I'm on record as saying this is a bad idea; my colleague Nate Jones isn't so sure. One thing's for certain though: in the two games Shaq has been "rested," the Suns are 1-1, and after squeaking out a one point win against the league-worst Thunder, it's still something that warrants a discussion.

The first time that Shaq sat out, the Bulls pretended to be offended that the Suns were taking them more lightly than the following night's opponent (Milwaukee), and basically ran them off the floor. Last night against the Thunder -- whether it was a case of the home team feeling slighted or the combination of playing their first game for a new coach and the Suns taking a 1-13 team too lightly -- OKC came out firing, and led by as many as 16 in the third quarter before the Suns made a furious rally to literally steal a one-point victory.

Steve Nash singlehandedly made sure he wouldn't be stuck answering postgame questions about Porter's new system, by scoring 12 points in the fourth quarter, and assisting on Matt Barnes' game-winning three-pointer. After committing six turnovers through the first three quarters, Nash had just one in the fourth.

It was good to see the Suns figure things out just in time to get a win, but it came against the worst team in the league, and it almost didn't come at all. Shaq is such a big part of what the team is trying to do now offensively that when he's out, the team is really struggling to find itself. It's hard enough for a team to adjust to one new system under a new coach; it's almost impossible to expect them to have to learn two completely different ones.