There were times in these winning Suns years that they could not test the depths of their bench for fear of drowning the team.
Depth no longer means darkness on Phoenix's bench, which is giving the Suns their best bench offensive production of the past six seasons. And it is coming from a unit that figured to be known more for defense.
Guard Leandro Barbosa's return to the bench has given a particular lift, returning players to their natural roles and giving the Suns an instant injection of speed for the tempo they desire. The Suns are 15-3 this season with Barbosa and have averaged 121.3 points since he came back from an ankle sprain that sidelined him for 12 games, a stretch in which the Suns went 4-8.
The recent 3-1 run includes consecutive wins over conference leaders, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, with two of the NBA's better defenses.
"I try to make everyone feel comfortable," Barbosa said. "Sometimes, I think Goran (Dragic) feels a little pressure to take care of the team but I'm helping him to go with the flow. The second unit has been doing such a great job, even when I was hurt. We have so many talents. Each one of us has been given a little bit and this has made the difference."
Barbosa has not played first and third quarters, keeping his minutes to fewer than 20 until he played 23 Wednesday and had 17 points, four assists and four steals.
The bench's impact has kept the starters' minutes down. The starting five have the NBA's fourth-best plus-minus this season but you'll find no Suns in the top 50 for playing time. Forward Amar'e Stoudemire is 53rd, at 34.3 minutes per game.
"We have to somehow, throughout the season, relieve pressure from Steve (Nash) and Amar'e," reserve forward Jared Dudley said.
Dudley is the NBA's top 3-point shooter who, more importantly, brings persistent defense and spirit to the floor. Dragic is emerging into a steadier backup point guard but has improved his shot enough to play off-guard, too. Louis Amundson remains the team's best
"Whenever I can get on the court with Goran and LB, I just feel very comfortable," Lopez said.
T-Mac passes Nash
The Houston Rockets have decided to leave Tracy McGrady as inactive while they pursue trading the NBA's highest-paid player who has logged 45 minutes of play this season. Yet, he still could start the All-Star Game over Nash.
McGrady retook the second spot among Western Conference guards in the latest fan-voting returns, slimly leading Nash by 1,005 and well back of overall vote-leader and Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (1,606,032).
Behind McGrady's 649,563 votes and Nash's 648,558, New Orleans' Chris Paul remains close, with 622,219 votes.
McGrady would be eligible to start even if he remains inactive.
Stoudemire kept his hold on the West's starting-center job for the Feb. 14 All-Star Game. He has 1,143,849 votes, which puts him 467,215 ahead of Lakers center Andrew Bynum.
Voting concludes Jan. 18 and starters will be announced Jan. 21.
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