Suns' Loss in Dallas Is No Surprise

What little chances the Phoenix Suns still had at sneaking into the playoffs came to a quick and violent end on Sunday, when the team gave up 140 points on the way to an ugly loss in Dallas. To a man, the Suns' players and coaches seemed genuinely surprised at the way the game went, but really, given the way that they've performed on the road of late, the outcome was one that should have been expected.

The Suns have been a completely different team on the road than they have been at home. Phoenix had lost nine of their previous 10 games away, with the only win coming against a Golden State club that somehow manages to play even less defense than Phoenix does.

The previous three road losses came after a six-game winning streak, when the Suns still had a (small) chance at the post-season. The thing they all had in common? The games weren't really that close.

Portland dropped the Suns by 20, Utah led by 21 before holding in in OT, and the 16-win Sacramento Kings led by as many as 14 before winning by nine.

Still, players seemed mystified as to how they could get rolled so easily by the Mavericks.

"I totally misread it," Grant Hill told the Arizona Republic. "I thought it'd be a hard-fought game. I thought we'd fight and compete, and it'd come down to the wire. Boy, was I wrong."

Matt Barnes had a similar sentiment. "With everything on the line, for us to give up 140 points is tough. We got beat in every aspect of the game. It was something I didn't expect."

Alvin Gentry was the last one to echo the feeling, saying, "Not in a million years would I have thought we'd come out and play that way in a game of that significance."

Again, the way Phoenix has performed on the road recently, this was somewhat expected. But for a team that has gone through so many ups and downs this season, Steve Nash perhaps summed it up best.

"Disappointing season, but obviously a very embarrassing and disappointing loss. . . . Put us out of our misery."