FanHouse SteveNash

Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash presented the 2nd annual "Showdown in Chinatown" charity soccer event on Wednesday in downtown New York City. The game benefited the Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna Foundations, and was an 8-on-8 match filled with NBA and soccer greats. Predictably, NBA stars Chris Bosh and Grant Hill didn't fare as well as the likes of Thierry Henry and Edgar Davids. However, international hoopsters, Nash and Tony Parker, definitely held their own on the pitch. Okay, now I'm just name-dropping. Check out FanHouse's look at what was a fun, if not somewhat awkward, game of soccer. The video is below.

The offseason is likely to be a lot like the regular season was for the Phoenix Suns. As you may recall, rumors involving both Amar'e Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal swirled around the club up until the trade deadline. And even after a coaching change that took place right after the All-Star break, the team was in a constant state of flux that most would admit was at least partially responsible for the club missing the playoffs.

In an attempt to solidify the Suns' immediate future, Steve Kerr made a quick trip to New York to meet with Steve Nash, with hopes of beginning to convince him to sign a contract extension now, instead of waiting until the end of next season, when he would become an unrestricted free agent.

But Nash will certainly want some assurances before doing so, and I believe there's one word he wants to hear from the organization most of all: Consistency.

Steve Nash made an appearance on the David Letterman show Wednesday night, and was in the studio with Dave as the two watched some video that Nash shot while reporting from Game 3 of the Finals.

There's some funny stuff in the clip, and of course, we'll show it to you after the jump. But of a bit more interest was Nash's response when Dave asked him why he doesn't come play for the Knicks. Nash said, "I'd love to. Can you work it out?"

Saturday Spotlight is a weekly lightning-round of questions delving into the personalities and stories of major leaguers. This week the Spotlight goes multimedia, with its premier audio edition.

Randy Winn has been overshadowed throughout most of his career because he's shared an outfield with Ichiro Suzuki and Barry Bonds, but Winn has put up some numbers of his own. He's been an All-Star and a member of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He's also a former teammate of a third MVP: Steve Nash.

Enjoy the interview...

What little chances the Phoenix Suns still had at sneaking into the playoffs came to a quick and violent end on Sunday, when the team gave up 140 points on the way to an ugly loss in Dallas. To a man, the Suns' players and coaches seemed genuinely surprised at the way the game went, but really, given the way that they've performed on the road of late, the outcome was one that should have been expected.

Phoenix faces a do or die situation in Dallas this afternoon (3:30 PM ET, ABC). Here are three things to watch for.

Can Shaq dominate the paint? Erick Dampier is known as one of the league's least consistent pivots, but he's a fine rebounder and defender. Shaquille O'Neal, however, doesn't exactly let himself get dominated. With everything on the line for Phoenix, we expect Shaq to assert his power around the rim, forcing Dallas to foul, double and play from their heels instead of their toes. The Suns need that.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

The idea that the production of any star for a bad team needs to be discounted is a bad cliché. But NBA discounts do exist: when you play a bad defense, your production might be a bit inflated.

Three stud guards saw such nights on Wednesday, with Chris Paul at the frontier against the Clippers (the NBA's No. 27 defense). In a 94-possession game, Paul went for an astounding 30 points on 19 FGAs, 14 assists and six steals. Goodness gracious.

The numbers and the math say the Phoenix Suns still have a shot at making the playoffs. What the Suns say, however, make the numbers and the math seem like optimists.

After the Suns' 126-118 slap-in-the-face loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night, reality is setting in. There was talk of hope and things not being over, but you got the sense the Suns were trying to convince themselves more than anything.

"We were playing for a lot tonight and I don't think we showed up with our attitude or our desperation," guard Steve Nash said. "I don't know. We didn't get it done."

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

-- [Zach] Randolph laughed when I asked him if he felt the Knicks made a mistake in trading him away. "Yeah," he said with a big smile beaming. "It was definitely a mistake." [...] If they wind up with LeBron, Zach says he can understand moving him. But Chris Bosh? "I'm better than Chris Bosh," he said. -- Alan Hahn on Newday

-- "I retired," Arenas said in the home locker room before Washington's game against Charlotte. "No more blogging for me." [...] "It's just like the double-(edged) sword thing: Eventually your words is going to kill you," Arenas said with a smile. -- Gilbert Arenas

PHOENIX -- The Suns had the mentality that Tuesday night's game against the Mavericks was extremely important to their playoff hopes, or even a must-win considering they were facing a Mavericks team that they're looking to catch in the standings.

They played like it, too: for a while. But a flat second half and a hot Dirk Nowitzki sent Phoenix to their fifth consecutive loss, which leaves the Suns five games out of the eighth and final playoff spot with just 18 games remaining in the regular season.

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