Feb 8, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic (1) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Having to play the Oklahoma City Thunder into straight games? That doesn’t sound fun, not if you’re the Phoenix Suns anyway. Phoenix has lost 10 straight games against Oklahoma City and got demolished by Oklahoma City on Friday night by the final score of 127 – 96.

“They have a really high-level team and we knew that,” Suns interim coach Lindsey Hunter said. “We expected that. It’s a great learning process for all of us by showing us where we want to be, where we strive to be, and where we will be.”

Fortunately for the Suns, this time it’ll be the Thunder who are playing in enemy territory. Going into tonight’s game, the Thunder are the favorites by an 8.5 point margin according to ESPN.com. The Suns are injury free while the Thunder has DeAndre Liggins listed as day to day.

Keys to the game: Suns

- Three-point defense. The Thunder torched the Suns on Friday night with 14 three-pointers made on 21 attempts.

- Transition defense! Oklahoma City scored 30 fast-break points against the suns on Friday night.

- I’ve lost track how many times I’ve sent this this season, but the suns cannot turn the ball over, ever! The Suns turned the ball over 17 times on Friday night which led to 29 points for the Oklahoma City thunder. Fact of the matter is the suns simply cannot make up for all those turnovers due to the lack of offensive talent.

Keys to the game: Thunder

- Share the basketball. The Thunder did a great job setting each other up  for baskets on Friday night as the Thunder dished out 29 assists as a team compared to their season average of 22 assists.

The X-Factor!

- Intimidation. At this point one might wonder how confident the Suns are playing against the same team that beat them just two nights ago by 31 points.

Match up of the night!

- It’s still going to be Goran Dragic versus Russell Westbrook. Despite the fact that the funds are demolished the Suns on Friday night, it was actually a close game in the first half as the Thunder led 55-50 heading into the second half. Dragic scored 16 points in the first quarter against Oklahoma City but did little rest of the way.

Too literal! You took it too literally! What did you do to Steve?! WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!?!

Given this kindness, I came to a realization – most NBA fans of teams other than the Suns wouldn’t mind sending their most valued possessions to Phoenix for little to no return! They just want to help Steve in any way possible and get him a championship, right? That’s the way that they always couch their argument to Free Steve Nash, so this must be the logical conclusion!

I decided to take a look at how kind some teams could truly be in their contribution to Operation: Get Nash a Ring. If you’re a Suns fan, I think you’ll appreciate the generosity of our NBA brethren. If you’re a fan of any of these teams, let me be the first to say, “thank you.” You were right – we should have freed Steve Nash ages ago!

1. Vince Carter to OKC for Serge Ibaka, Russell Westbrook, and Nick Collison

I’m of the mind that ridding the Suns of a zombie will instantly make them a better team. Unfortunately, zombies are highly contagious, so the NBA will not allow Vince Carter to be traded in a combination with any other player. Fortunately, Oklahoma City has a well stocked team full of reasonable contracts that can be combined into equal (financial) value in order to trade for Carter.

This trade would be quite kind of Oklahoma City, as Phoenix would employ two of the best point guards in the league – either in two different units, or in an incredible crunch time lineup with Westbrook running the point and Nash playing off the ball. Serge Ibaka would make the Suns defense even better, and he and Gortat could form a formidable front line. (more…)