(Brian Babineau/NBAE Photos) After the 104-87 ”Boston Massacre” or a “Good old spanking“, according to Coach Porter, I left with the impression that the Suns are no longer one of the top teams in the Association or at least that they’re far from playing with the best of them on a consistent basis.

The Suns can’t consistently beat the top teams in the League. On any given night, that’s possible of course but a of today I don’t think you could consider the Suns favourite in a 7-game series against any of the potential playoff teams in the West.

In case you wonder Phoenix is 8-12 vs teams with .500 or better record (5-10 against such teams in the West). Let’s check those losses: -13 vs New Orleans, -12 vs Houston, -12 in Utah, -13 vs the Lakers, -13 in New Orleans, -15 in Dallas, – 17 in Boston. Eight of those 10 losses came by double digit margin.

Some of the comments (form Suns.com) after the Boston games were a bit worrying actually. When Steve Nash goes off like that:

(On the Suns’ trade of Rondo) “Well, we’ve had a few draft-night trades to stay under the salary cap that were difficult in the big picture. Our franchise is built on a business model that tries to stay under the cap as much as we can.”

(On the loss) “Body language, connectivity, all those things just seemed to be lopsided”

(On his emotions) “All those emotions, you get angry, humiliated, you feel helpless”

Of course Nash tried to leave the building on a high-note: ”it’s one of the biggest challenges of a professional athlete to be able to bounce back and pick yourself up.”

Let’s hope so, Steve.

Suns face the Knicks and the Knicks on Wednesday night (5:30 PM), what a chance to gain some confidence back, soon. 

Yours truly, Steve Fan