Suns and Steve Nash Scorch the Wizards 127-105

If you want to look back at the past two seasons and want to see why Steve Nash was the NBA league MVP, look no further than what he did to the Washington Wizards offensive powers tonight , as he orchestrated a 127-105 rout in front of a sold out Verizon Center.

From start to finish, it did not matter what combination of players Eddie Jordan put on the court tonight, as the Suns took commanding leads of 20 and 30 points numerous times during the first and second half.

Nash made his first seven shots en route to a blazing shooting 11 of 13 overall, scored a team-high 27 points and had 14 assists. He did not even play the final 2:46 of the game.

The Suns shot a season-high 60.8 percent, had assists on 35 of their 48 field goals and had five players in double figures before halftime. Nash was 7-for-7 from the field and had eight assists in the first half. He continued with the usual inside the paint play and offered up a sick baseline hesitation step that got him past Brendan Haywood for a three-point play. This was enough for fans to stomach before the half and then some.

“Steve(Nash) is an excellent player. He finds ways to distribute the ball that makes him one of the toughest guys in the league to guard. You never know what to expect. We did the best we could to defend him and Gil gave him a tough run in the second half, but they had all of their players finding ways to get open,” said Wizards Head Coach Eddie Jordan.

Phoenix played most of the second quarter and third quarter without Amare Stoudamire, who found himself in early foul trouble, but he re-emerged in the fourth quarter when the Wizards cut into the lead to help Phoenix keep the game over a 20 point deficit for the Wizards.

Shawn Marion finished with 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting, and Raja Bell also had 21 points for the Suns, who were opening a five-game road trip.

Caron Butler added 24 points for the Wizards after being named the Eastern Conference player of the week.