Apr 9, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Phoenix Suns shooting guard Jared Dudley (3) reacts after receiving a technical foul during the second quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

With the 2012-13 NBA regular season over in less than a week, the playoff teams are battling among themselves for playoff positioning, sometimes resting key players that logged significant minutes to get their team to this point, gearing up for the grueling schedule that is the postseason.

Those teams that have been solidified with a high pick in the upcoming draft have other motives that they are striving for as the season comes to a close. They are trying to lose without it looking like it, by winning the occasional game, whether intentionally or not. Additionally, these cellar-dwelling teams are inserting their young players into the lineups to see what they have so that the off-season decision-making is easier.

At the top of the lottery standings, which are the inverted actual win percentage standings for this season, are the Charlotte Bobcats and the Orlando Magic. There is a full four game separation between the Suns and Cavaliers in the third spot and the Magic in the second spot with the Bobcats another two games past Orlando. With only a few games left, it is either impossible or strongly improbable that Phoenix can catch any of these teams in the inverted “lottery” standings.

However, The Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers are in a neck-and-neck race for this third slot. The teams are tied with three games left apiece on their schedule. Phoenix plays at Minnesota tonight, hosts the Houston Rockets Monday for their home finale, and finishes the season in Denver for a bout with the Nuggets. The Cavs play at Philadelphia Sunday, head home for their last game at home against the Miami Heat, then play at Charlotte for their final game of the season.

The Miami Heat are going to beat the Cavaliers so the Suns really need Cleveland to accidentally win against both Philadelphia and Charlotte so that the third spot is safe, in case Phoenix accidentally wins. This means that the Suns CANNOT win out, if they want the third-best chance at the number one pick this off-season.

This third pick is important because both teams have a lot of wholes to fill in their rosters. Cleveland needs more consistent scoring and play-making to pair with Kyrie Irving, while the Suns need the same to go with Goran Dragic.

Nov 27, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Phoenix Suns point guard Goran Dragic (1) drives against Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Dion Waiters (3) in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

After a heart breaking loss Sunday night to the Philadelphia 76ers the Phoenix Suns(7-8) bounced back against a struggling Cleveland Cavaliers(3-12) team that has lost it’s last 4 games. Cleveland was without their star point guard Kyrie Irving tonight as he sat our with a bruised finger and Anderson Varejao who was spectacular scored 20 points and pulled down 18 rebounds but it was all in vain.

The Suns began the game quickly and scored the first 7 points of the game which caused Cavaliers coach Byron Scott to take a quick timeout. Phoenix did a tremendous job defensively on the Cavaliers all night long, it began in the 1st quarter when they held the Cavaliers to 4 of 18 shooting to begin the game and that’s pretty much how the night went for the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers shot only 35% for the game against the Suns and the only player for Cleveland who shot above 50% on the game was Anderson Varejao. In fact the Cavs shot so poorly on Tuesday night, if you take away Varejao’s 10 of 15 from the field, the Cavaliers as a team shot only 29% from the field.

“I’ll make just a real quick statement — Andy Varejao was fantastic,” Byron Scott said. “Everybody else stunk tonight. Anything else you need to know?”

“To me right now he’s the best center in the NBA,” Scott said. “By far the best in the Eastern Conference. Coaches and players are starting to recognize how well he’s playing.”

However despite the final score, and Byron Scott’s major displeasure, the game wasn’t as one sided as one might think. Cleveland actually led the Suns 59-57 after a Dion Waiters lay-up with 3:28 left in the ball game however the Suns closed out the 3rd quarter on a 14-0 run.

Nov 27, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao (17) shoots against Phoenix Suns center Marcin Gortat (4) in the third quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

Cleveland may have stunk up Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night but you’ve got to give a lot of credits to this Suns team. Phoenix did a great job defensively all night long, in fact the Suns didn’t allow Cleveland a single basket inside the painted area until the 7:18 mark in the 2nd quarter.

The Sun were led to the win by the great play of Goran Dragic who scored a team high 19 points and dished out 7 assists; Dragic also hit 2 back to back 3-pointers from the corner to push the lead to 19 with less than 5 minutes left to go in regulation. Michael Beasley had another fine offensive game, notching 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting and also pulling down 4 rebounds.

As unprofessional as the Cleveland announcers were, as they were ripping on Marcin Gortat extensively throughout the game, I can’t disagree with them. I mean if you compared the two centers, Varejao and Gortat. Varejao recorded 20 points, 18 rebounds and 3 assists on the evening, Gortat on the other hand had a mere 6 points and 3 rebounds on the game; I said in the preview that I felt Gortat was a better player than Varejao now I’m beginning to have my doubts…..

Jared Dudley quietly played a nice game for the Suns as he scored over double digits for the 1st time in the last 5 games. Dudley scored 11 points, making all 5 of his shot attempts to begin the game; Dudley finished 5 of 7 and pulled in 4 rebounds.

The Suns won’t have a lot of time to feel good about this win as they are on their way to Detroit to face off against the Pistons tomorrow night at the Palace of Auburn Hills, which is the Suns 3rd game in 4 nights.