Marcin Gortat: A+
His fourth 20+ point game in a row, another 21/15 game. Gortat was rolling. Too bad he only got the ball in the second half, because he could’ve done this all day against the non-imposing Warrior D.

Channing Frye: A-
Frye put the Suns in a hole with his bad shooting, and then he clawed them out. The problem? He still missed a lot of heat checks and didn’t play any defence. I’m going to give him credit, but with a bit of a sour face.

Grant Hill: B+
Grant was consistently good, and although he couldn’t really keep up with Monta quite like last time, he did play extremely well on offence, making plays for others and scoring. That’s the Grant we know and love.

Jared Dudley: B
Jared just couldn’t by a three, but he scored in double figures and hustled. Good enough for me.

Steve Nash: B-
Steve? A B-? Has Koscielak gone mad? No, Steve had a genuinely passive game. He was evidently tired and looking forward to the three days of rest before the All-Star game. 8 points on 4 shots is good, but 9 assists and 5 turnovers, not really, no.

Michael Redd: C+
Redd decided to stop hitting shots and start being a playmaker. I don’t mind it, given that he had the only bench assists.

Robin Lopez: C+
He made a few pretty big buckets off the bench. Built some momentum, and fortunately enough, didn’t build enough trust to be reinserted into the game.

Shannon Brown: Meh.
Shannon Brown scored 8 points on 7 shots, so basically, he had an average scoring-only night. That’s why I’ll give him a new grade invented especially for him, the Meh.

Markieff Morris, Bassy Telfair: F
Morris had 2 points, Telfair had 5. Telfair didn’t even have an assist. Why isn’t Ronnie Price on the floor again?

The Suns might need even more from him, given how terrible everyone else on the team is pretty streaky. All that while Marcin scored 20+ points 3 games in a row.

Yes, defending the pick and roll will be the biggest problem for the Warriors and something that the Suns will have to continue to exploit. The other thing they’ll have to keep on the strong side will be bench play, after all, the bench woes prompted the Warriors comeback in the last meeting.

One thing the Suns won’t have to worry about, however, is Monta Ellis. Grant Hill is on fire defensively, stopping every scorer (except for Kobe, I suppose) from burning the Suns. Ellis was stifled by Hill’s defence. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for David Lee, who outworked Channing Frye to hell and back, cruising to a comeback win. The Suns might have to risk putting Marcin Gortat in foul trouble by putting him on Lee. They might even have to consider switching Grant Hill onto him and having Jared Dudley guard Monta Ellis. Whatever the case, you can’t let Lee burn you.

This game will be the last Suns game before some much needed extended All-Star game break time. For most of them, either way, as Steve Nash will be playing in the game.

X-Factor
Ekpe Udoh had a career night in Golden State’s last game against the Clippers, scoring 19 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. It might be a Robin Lopezesque one-time escapade, but the Suns should still beware Ekpe, and make sure he doesn’t get hot.

Adam’s Suggestion
It works for New York, it should work for Phoenix. You have Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat. Marcin Gortat who can finish in way more ways than Tyson Chandler, and Steve Nash who controls the ball much better than Jeremy Lin. Now… Pick and roll the Warriors to hell. And if that doesn’t work, have Gortat pop for mid-range jumpers as he did in the LA games. This combo should score 40-50 points combined, if the Suns want to have a good game.

Oh, and whatever you do… No Alarms and No Collapses… Please.