2006–07 Phoenix Suns season

The 2006 Phoenix Suns season started with the team trying to return to the Western Conference Finals, where they were eliminated in six games by the Dallas Mavericks in the previous season, 2005-06.

The Suns' marketing slogan for the 2005-2006 season is Eyes on the Prize. Billboards and bus wraps show closeups of the eyes of a different Suns player, each face photographed in a strongly tinted purple color (orange on some ads), with small reflections of the NBA championship trophy reflected in the pupils.

Offseason

The Suns signed 12-year veteran G/F Eric Piatkowski to a 2-year deal. Tim Thomas, who became a Phoenix cult hero after his strong performance in the 2006 playoffs signed with the division rival Los Angeles Clippers.

On July 20, the Suns signed Minnesota Timberwolves PG Marcus Banks to a five-year contract worth about $21 million.

On July 27, the Suns signed San Antonio Spurs PF Sean Marks to a one-year contract.

On August 4, the Suns signed G Leandro Barbosa to a five-year contract extension beginning in the 2007-2008 season worth approximately $33 million. Barbosa had an excellent showing in the 2006 playoffs.

On August 25, SF James Jones was traded by the Indiana Pacers to the Suns in exchange for a 2008 second round draft pick.

On August 31, the Suns signed Charlotte Bobcats F Jumaine Jones to a one-year contract.

The season looked promising for the Suns, partly because of the hoped-for return of PF Amare Stoudemire. The Suns had a playoff-cailber season without Stoudemire, almost reaching the NBA Finals, and are expected to do even better if he returns to his previous form; the team has much speed and depth with the return of most of the key starters as well as the new additions.

Early in training camp, the health of Stoudemire's knees was a cause for concern.

During the Suns 2006 traning camp, portions of which were held in Treviso, Italy, Rome, Italy, and Cologne, Germany, Stoudemire took himself out of some early practice sessions (leading coach Mike D'Antoni to keep him on the bench for an exhibition game in Rome on October 6) due to stiffness in both knees. MRI scans taken before the preseason showed no problems. Stoudemire's knees continued to improve; he went on to resume participation in team practices and two exhibition games in Germany. By the time the Suns returned from Europe on October 14, he reported that his knees felt good and feeling better each day. [1]

The Suns began the 2006-07 regular season with two nationally televised games; the first at Staples Center against the Lakers on October 31 on TNT and the second against the Clippers at US Airways Center on Nov. 1 on ESPN. [2]

Regular season

Phoenix Suns: Eyes on the Prize

The Suns opened the regular season against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 31. The Suns blew a 19-point first quarter lead to lose 114-106 to the Lakers. G Leandro Barbosa finished the game with a career high 30 points.

The following night, the Suns were victorious in their home opener at US Airways Center in Phoenix, with a 112-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. SF Shawn Marion posted 27 points and 10 rebounds, PG Steve Nash had 20 points and 11 assists, and C Amaré Stoudemire had 15 points in 24 minutes of playing time.

On November 7, the Suns signed free agent G/F Jalen Rose, a 12-year veteran out of the University of Michigan, to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million (he received a $14.5 million buyout for the remainder of his contract with the New York Knicks.) Rose selected the Suns over his second choice, the Miami Heat, due to the Suns' strong efforts to become a championship-caliber team. This is the sixth NBA team for Rose, and was expected to provide an extra boost of veteran leadership to the Suns. [3]

The Suns began the season with a dismal record of 1-5. They responded with wins against both the Memphis Grizzlies and the Philadelphia 76ers, but lost on November 18 to the Utah Jazz in memorable overtime game at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

Beginning with a November 20 win against the Golden State Warriors at Oakland, the Suns embarked upon an impressive 15-game winning streak, only to be eclipsed in January with a franchise-best 17-game win streak.

On December 5, Steve Nash dished out a season high 20 assists and 11 points in a game against the Sacramento Kings, which the Suns won 127-102. The game was also memorable due to a bit of frivolity involving Shawn Marion. After hitting a buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter (and scoring the final field goal that encapsulated a 41 point Suns' first period), Marion wrongly assumed that it was half-time and headed towards the locker room much to the delight of his fellow teammates.

On December 7, the Suns and the New Jersey Nets faced off in a classic game, which the Suns won in double overtime, 161-157 (the highest-scoring game in the NBA so far this season). Steve Nash (in an epic showdown against the Nets' PG Jason Kidd, a former member of the Suns) scored 42 points, including 9 in the 2nd overtime, accompanying 13 assists. Perhaps the key play involved when time was running out (in regulation) and the Nets leading the game 133-130: Boris Diaw inbounded the ball as Kurt Thomas set a high screen for Nash, who hit a 3-point shot to tie the game and send it to overtime. Diaw also had a good performance, scoring 16 points with 14 assists. With this win, the Suns extended their winning streak to 8. The game was quickly lauded as a classic, and is tied as the fourth highest-scoring NBA game of all time at 318 combined points. Though the Nets set a franchise record with 157 single-game points, the Suns did not, having scored 173 points on Nov. 10, 1990 in their 173-143 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

The Suns' players credit the improving team chemistry as a factor for success. According to Raja Bell, in an interview with the Arizona Republic on December 10, 2006:

On this team, chemistry might be even more important than a half-court team because Steve (Nash)'s got to get used to you and what you like to do... I've got to get used to when a big man's going to roll. There are just a lot of chemistry issues when you're playing a wide-open style like that. We are starting to round into shape, and the chemistry's coming.[4]

15-Game Winning Streak

On December 19th, the Suns made franchise history by winning their fifteenth straight game with a 115-98 win over the Toronto Raptors[5]; ironically, the Raptors are a franchise headed by Bryan Colangelo, former Suns president and son of Jerry Colangelo, longtime Suns owner and current Suns CEO (under new owner Robert Sarver). The younger Colangelo left the Suns' organization to accept the Raptors' president/GM position in late February 2006.

Steve Nash had 15 assists to go with 10 points, while Stoudemire scored a game-high 28 points and brought in 10 rebounds (in 28 minutes of playing time). The Suns' previous record was the 14-game win streak of the 1992-93 Suns, which made the NBA Finals but lost to the Chicago Bulls.

The streak ended on December 22nd against the Washington Wizards in overtime, by a score of 144-139, with Gilbert Arenas scoring a game high 54 points.

17-Game Winning Streak

On January 28th, 2007, the Suns made franchise history yet again by winning their seventeenth straight game with a 115-100 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, in a game played at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. Steve Nash contributed 23 points and 15 assists. Shawn Marion had 23 points, Amaré Stoudemire 22 and Leandro Barbosa scored 19.

The franchise's previous record of fifteen was set earlier in the season on December 19th (as noted above). The win against the Cavs also marked the 20th victory in 21 games this season to date against Eastern Conference teams.

Up to this point, the Suns' last loss was December 28 against the Dallas Mavericks. A victory at Minneapolis on Monday, January 29 against the Minnesota Timberwolves would have extended the streak to 18 games and again establish a franchise-best winning streak; however, the Suns fell to the T-Wolves by a score of 121-112. Kevin Garnett scored 44 points and had 11 rebounds for Minnesota, while Shawn Marion had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Leandro Barbosa had 17 for Phoenix in a losing cause; Raja Bell scored 26 points while Steve Nash had 20 points and 18 assists for the Suns, but he scored only three points and had just one assist in the final period as Garnett's scoring was too much for the Suns to overcome.

"Better to lose that way than to lose when we beat ourselves," Nash said. "Kevin was sensational. We just didn't make shots at the end at the clip Kevin was making them." [6]

The only other teams in NBA history with 17-game win streaks were the 1946-47 Washington Capitols, the 1959-60 Boston Celtics and the 1995-96 San Antonio Spurs.

This Suns' streak was the NBA's longest winning streak of the 2006-2007 season to date, and the longest streak since the Lakers' 19-game streak in the 1999-2000 season. The all-time best winning streak in the NBA is 33 games, set by the 1971-1972 L.A. Lakers. Steve Nash noted in an interview with the Associated Press:

"People don't talk about the 33-game streak, they talk about who won the championship that year," Nash said, noting the Lakers won the league title in '71-'72. "I don't feel unbeatable. We've got a lot of improving to do." [7]

An intteresting note is that behind the Lakers' 33-game streak, no team has won more than 20 games in a row.

As noted by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, the Suns franchise has had nine double-digit win streaks in its history to date, with four of them alone under coach Mike D'Antoni since 2004-05. The Suns are the 12th franchise in NBA history to have multiple winning streaks of at least 10 games before the month of February, but they are also the only team to have two 15-game winning streaks before the All-Star break. [8] [9]