The Suns will likely be without 29-year old center Marcin Gortat for the rest of the 2012-13 season due to a Lisfranc injury to his right foot.  Gortat has played in 61 games (all starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 30.8 minutes, 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  Gortat has 17 double-doubles so far this year and he is shooting 52.1% from the floor, which is impressive.  Gortat has now played in 182 games (139 starts) in his first three years with the Suns and he is averaging 30.9 minutes, 13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  This is a big blow to the Suns as Gortat is one of their best players.

29-year old power forward Channing Frye is going to miss the entire 2012-13 season due to an enlarged heart. Frye played in 64 games (59 starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 26.1 minutes, 10.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. He has now played in 222 games (164 starts) in his three years with the Suns and he is averaging 28.8 minutes, 11.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Suns are going to miss Frye in 2012-13. They hope he gets back to getting healthy and resuming his NBA career down the road.

39-year old small forward Grant Hill could miss the rest of this season due to minor right knee surgery, which he’s going to have later today. Hill has played in 46 games (all starts) for the Suns this year and he is averaging 29.2 minutes, 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. 26-year old SG/SF Shannon Brown will likely take over Hill’s spot in the starting lineup. Brown has played in 44 games (4 starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 9.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Brown should do a solid job for the Suns.

The Suns have lost starting power forward Channing Frye for the next 2-3 weeks due to a dislocated right shoulder. Frye has played in 61 games (48 starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 32.5 minutes, 12.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. While Frye is out of action, Hakim Warrick will need to step up for the Suns. Warrick has played in 59 games (1 start) so far this year for the Suns this season and he is averaging 17.5 minutes, 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Warrick isn’t nowhere near the outside shooter that Frye is, but he’s a good offensive player so the Suns should be o.k.

The Suns are going to be without 24-year old backup point guard Goran Dragic for several games due to the fact that he needed 9 stitches to close a gash on his left foot. He stepped on some glass. Dragic has played in 45 games (2 starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 18.4 minutes, 7.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. This is going to hurt the Suns in more ways than one. Dragic was allowing the Suns to watch 36-year old point guard Steve Nash’s minutes and it has kept him healthy and fresh. Nash will likely be asked to play more minutes until Dragic returns unless 26-year old rookie Zabian Dowdell steps up. Dowdell has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 6.5 minutes, 2.0 points, 0.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Nash is having an outstanding year for the Suns as he has played in 43 games (all starts) in which he is averaging 32.9 minutes, 17.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 11.0 assists per game. The Suns really hope Dowdell is ready for prime time because he’s the only other real point guard on the roster besides Nash & Dragic.

The Suns have lost 22-year old rookie forward Gani Lawal for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL and a partially torn ACL in his left knee. Lawal only played in 1 game (0 starts) for the Suns in which he played 2 scoreless minutes without getting any rebounds, assists, steals or blocked shots. Lawal was a 2nd round pick out of Georgia Tech last June.

The Suns will be without center Robin Lopez for about a month due to sprains of his left MCL and PCL. He has played in 9 games (all starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Suns will need Channing Frye to step up as he will replace Lopez in the starting lineup. Frye has played in 10 games (1 start) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 28.2 minutes, 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. The Suns are going to need Frye to get on the glass because they are a tad undersized when Lopez isn’t on the floor.

The Suns will be without starting center Robin Lopez for at least the first round of the playoffs due to a back injury. Lopez played in 51 games (31 starts) for the Suns this season and he averaged 19.3 minutes, 8.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. This will hurt the Suns especially in the first round of the playoffs because Lopez would put a body on Marcus Camby while Channing Frye doesn’t like the rough stuff under the basket.

It looks like father time is starting to wear down on the Phoenix Suns’ 36-year-old point guard, Steve Nash.  Nash is still playing at a high level and has only missed two games this season, but his back has been noticeably bothering him and his production has dropped over the past two months.  In the first few months of the season, Nash was putting up some really great offensive numbers.  In November he averaged 15.8 points and 11.8 assists; In December he averaged 20.5 points and 10.2 assists; In January he averaged 18.2 points and 11 assists.  However, in the past two months Nash’s scoring has really dropped off.  The bad back is the main reason why, as he is getting less minutes and it he has been playing through pain so his shooting percentage has really dropped off.  In February he only averaged 13.5 points, but still dished out 11.7 assists per game.  So far this month Nash is only averaging 12.2 points, but is still dropping 10.6 dimes per game.  Nash doesn’t need to score a ton of points for the Suns to be successful and it is a good sign that he is still racking up great assists numbers.  It does make you wonder how many years Nash has left and if his back will hurt him and the Suns in this year’s playoffs.

Steve Nash and his 36-year-old body have been hurting as of the late, specifically his back and abdomen.  It was bothering him so much that he stayed in Phoenix on Tuesday while the team went to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder.  The Suns were able to escape with a 104-102 win without Nash, but they are not the same team without him.  He returned to the court last night at home against the Philadelphia 76ers and he looked healthy and fresh.  He only played 29 minutes, but he went 8-9 from the field for 20 points, 13 assists, and 4 rebounds in a 106-95 win.  Hopefully Nash’s back/abdomen problem will wear off and they don’t get worse, because if the Suns want to get anywhere in the Western Conference playoffs they are going to need a healthy Nash running the show.