FanHouse Steve Nash

How good are the Phoenix Suns this season? It may be too early to tell, but they're at least good enough to get their latest opponent's head coach fired just nine games into the season.

Byron Scott has been relieved of his coaching duties and the team will make the formal announcement at a press conference later this afternoon. This comes in the wake of a disappointing 3-6 start to the season, and, most recently, a completely lackluster and discouraging performance against the Suns in a nationally televised blowout on Wednesday night.

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Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

It was all Phoenix last night as the Suns beat the Hornets 124-104. The Suns scored 101 of their points in the first three quarters, so you can tell where this is going. Steve Nash needed just 23 minutes to post 12 points and 10 assists. Amare Stoudemire added 21 points. Even Goran Dragic got in on the fun adding 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Unfortunately, Alando Tucker was the only Sun held scoreless. On the bright side he wasn't the worst player in the game. That honor goes to the player responsible for last night's lotto line.

On the other side of the ball Chris Paul played inspired ball after Steve Nash called him the best point guard in the league. Paul had 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting with four treys, six assists and four steals. Chris Paul is making 2.2 threes per game and is shooting 63-percent from the floor in his first nine, which is making him the clear-cut No.1 player in all of fantasy.

Be honest: you didn't think that after eight games were played in this young NBA season that we'd be talking about the Phoenix Suns as one of the best teams in the league. But after Monday night's come-from-behind win in Philadelphia to finish a five-game road trip at 4-1, that's exactly where we find ourselves.

Behind 21 points and 20 assists from Steve Nash -- his seventh 20-assist game in his career and his second of this season -- the Suns came from eight points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Sixers in Philadelphia, and claimed a share of the league's top spot in the standings in the process.

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Raw Like Sushi was the name of a Neneh Cherry album. It also could end up being the title for the Hasheem Thabeet rookie highlight video.

Of course, if you think this guy is green now, Memphis coach Lionel Hollins says you should have been around for his first workout after the Grizzlies took the 7-foot-3, 267-pound Connecticut center with the No. 2 pick in last June's draft.

"He was really bad,'' Hollins said. "Even though he's a shot blocker, he only had to stand in the paint in college. Now you've got guys attacking you and how you have to go meet them, he knew none of that. He had no footwork. He had no jump hook. He had nothing. And I can say that out of all the rookies in this draft, he probably has come the farthest. He has the farthest to go, and he still has a long ways to go.''

LOS ANGELES -- The Clippers held a seven-point lead over the Suns with about nine minutes remaining in their home opener, in a game that was the season opener for Phoenix.

But Steve Nash made sure that his Suns left with the victory, by scoring 15 of his team's 24 fourth quarter points, including the game-winner in a thrilling 109-107 contest at Staples Center.

As in comedy, all things fantasy basketball come in fives. In finishing my positional previews I now give you my list of the Top 50 point guards. There is very little surprise as to who sits at the top of the list. That honor goes to the potential number one overall pick -- Chris Paul. Thanks to his high assist and steal totals, Paul once again finished with fantasy MVP honors in '08-'09.

There is a premium price to pay for point guards this year. Only 14 players dished more than 500 total assists last season, two of whom are not eligible at the point. On the defensive side of the ball, 20 players posted more than 100 steals -- half were point guards. On the court they're leaders. Off the court they're freaks. Actually, I have no proof of that. What I do have is a list!

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FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The 2009-10 Phoenix Suns are caught somewhere between the past and the future. But just because they don't know where they're going, and have one foot stuck in a place where they've already been, doesn't mean that the team can't win this season, while playing an entertaining style of basketball along the way.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- For the second straight year, the Phoenix Suns hosted an outdoor preseason game at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California. Only this time, the weather cooperated to make it a fantastic event in an atmosphere about as unique as they come by NBA standards.