When Terry Porter went away, so did the Suns defense. But apparently, the fast-paced offense that made fans all over the nation love the Suns — before GM Steve Kerr imploded the team and Mike D’antoni went to the Knicks — is back. Before Sunday’s contest against the Celtics, the Suns had scored 140+ points in each contest since the All-Star break, going an impressive 3-0 under new coach Alvin Gentry. Of course, that included back-to-back games against the Clippers and then one against the Thunder, and neither of those teams exhibit what would be anyone’s idea of tight D.

Sunday started off on pace for another 140 point performance despite the Suns missing superstar Amare Stoudemire, who is out eight-to-10 weeks after eye surgery, and the Celts missing Kevin Garnett, who is also out at least two weeks, courtesy of a knee injury.

That being said, the lack of defense for the Suns stuck out like a stupid twist in an M. Night Shyamlanan movie. Despite giving up a monster 38 points to the KG-less Celtics in the first quarter, they trailed by only five thanks to another solid early shooting performance by Leandro Barbosa. The second quarter saw the sizzling Suns cool off, which makes it difficult to stay in the game with their lack of defense. The Celtics continued shooting well, outscoring the Suns 30-21 in the quarter, led by Rajon Rondo’s 14 points, to enter halftime with a commanding 68-54 lead, with eyes on a blowout.

The third quarter featured the trading of baskets by the two teams as the Suns could never cut the lead down under 11, and Phoenix entered the fourth quarter trailing by 13, clearly suffering the loss of Stoudemire more than the Celts were missing The Big Ticket.

The game was essentially over as the Atlantic-leading Celts pulled away and cruised to a 128-108 victory behind 89 points from Rondo, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. For the contest, Boston shot a ridiculous 63 per cent from the field. Hey Suns fans, at least you’re back to that D’antoni offense you all missed!

By the way, with both Rondo and Allen going for over 30 points, it marked the first time that both members of the Boston’s starting backcourt scored at least 30 in the same game since January, 1977, when — ghet ready for it — Jo Jo White and Charlie Scott turned the trick. How’s that for some retro Beantown love?

Who to Watch

Rajon Rondo, PG: He’s already obviously a must-start in any fantasy league, but Sunday was just more evidence of how fast-rising this young superstar is. And he did it all on his 23rd birthday, no less. With KG out, he picked up the slack, scoring a career high 32 points while also dishing out 10 assists, giving him his fourth double double of the month (including a triple double). With Garnett expected at least a couple of weeks, Rondo will likely up his scoring greater than his season average of 11 (and, in fact, he’s scored at least 15 points in each of the past three games). He also shot an impressive 13-for-18 from the field on Sunday, although he did, as usual, struggle from the line, going only 5-for-9. Unless you are intentionally trying to throw the league, start Rondo and expect a boost in production. Is it just me, or has Rondo become a serious leader on this team of leaders?

Brian Scalabrine, C: Give the big red head some love! He takes a lot of bashes for being a waste of space, but the he can produce when asked upon. With Garnett out, Scalabrine showed he might be somewhat useful, pouring in 14 points and hitting a pair of treys. However, I’d like to see more than two boards from my big man. If you’re worried about rebound production with KG out, Scalabrine might not be the best option as he’s a bit more of a perimeter player, but if he gets you close to 10 points a game, that might prove useful in a very deep league. He might be a reach, but if he continues to have games like Sunday I’d say he’s worth watching, at the very least.

Leandro Barbosa, SG: The Brazilian Blur is finally an offensive threat again after the wheelchair Porter offense was removed. Of course, the loss of Stoudemire and his shifting into the starting lineup sure helps, too. After scoring a career-high 41 against the Clippers in his last contest, Barbosa had a more modest showing on Sunday going for 18 points, four rebounds, two assists, three steals one three-pointer and even a block, to fill the stat sheet. A rarity on a team that doesn’t play much defense, Barbosa will get you some steals with that crazy speed and he’s shown since the break that he is capable of putting up crazy good numbers in the Gentry era. If you have him and haven’t reinserted him into your lineup get your head out of your you know what and put him back in. And if you’re in a shallow league, check the wire to see if he’s been dropped; it’s possible, considering what a disappointing season it’s been up until now for Barbosa.

Louis Amundson, PF: Amundson figures to get a lot of playing time with Stoudemire out, but he better not piss off any more of the league’s thugs like he did to Zach Randolph of the Clippers or he’ll expect another “POW! right in the kissa.” Amundson didn’t see enough PT to be useful e on Sunday, going 2-for-4 from the field for four points and only one rebound. He’s only averaged 3.6 points and 3.3 rebounds this season, but the 26-year-old UNLV product had a nice showing on Tuesday, when he got smacked by Randolph, but still dropped in 13 points with eight boards. Don’t pick him up yet, but monitor the next few games to see how his PT progresses, and if he can average closer to 25 MPG, he might be worth a pick up, especially if you are one of the unfortunate few to have been playing Stoudemire.

Welcome to the first edition of The Hidden Truth, a new NBA fantasy column in which I will be focusing on exposing the stats and players that win fantasy leagues. For instance, everyone knows Allen Iverson can hoop, but what are the consequences of starting him in your fantasy league? Does he shoot a high percentage? For those Roto-lovers out there, all categories are equal. First place in steals is the same as first place in points. So let’s dive in!

The first edition of this column will focus on field goal percentage. It is evident that if you take more shots farther from the rim, your shooting percentage is usually lower, so you have to take these rankings with a grain of salt. Just because Chauncey Billups shoots a low percentage does not make him a worse fantasy player than Ronnie Brewer, who is in the top 10 in FG percentage. To build a championship fantasy hoops squad, you must be balanced, but it does help to have guys with high field goal percentages at all positions.

Today we will look at the guards.

Top 10 High Percentage Finishers

1. Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics (50.3%): The Celtic point guard is a solid fantasy player as he puts up decent points, assists, rebounds, and steals, but he shines in the field goal percentage category. This is a product of taking good shots in a good system, but man has he ever come a long way from his rookie season when his shooting was considered a major weakness.

2. Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets (49.6%): Mr. Do-it-all also does not miss too often.

3. Ronnie Brewer, Utah Jazz (49.5%): Jerry Sloan likes this slasher because he gets good shots. People may see him as a role player, but he is averaging over 13 PPG this season.

4. Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors (49.4%): Calderon does it a little differently — even though he is more of an outside shooter than Rondo or Tony Parker, he will help you in FG percentage just as much.

5. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs (49.4%): The Frenchman has perfected his 15-to-18 foot jumper from dead-on. This compliments his drives to the basket which create high percentage layups.

6. Ray Allen, Boston Celtics (49.1%): For a guy who chucks up threes at an alarming rate, it is a surprise that Ray-Ray clocks in at sixth on the list. I think people discount all of the layups he gets on baseline drives after doing a pump fake.

7. Andre Miller, Philadelphia 76ers (47.9%): The steady point guard always finds a way to take good shots.

8. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat (47.8%): Flash is back and he is doing his thing.

9. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers (47.5%): Kobe makes more difficult shots than anyone in the league.

10. Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazers (47.4%): Roy has a nice jumper, but he also can finish near the rim, as we saw on his dramatic game-winning bucket against the Knicks recently.

Honourable mention: Derrick Rose (47.3%), Leandro Barbosa (47.2%), Mike Miller (47.2%), Deron Williams (47.2%), Steve Nash (46.8%), Mo Williams (46.8%)

Note: Jameer Nelson was shooting over 50 per cent from the field, but he is now out for the season, so he was not included on this list.

Top 10 Clankers

1. Baron Davis, Los Angeles Clippers (35.2%): Too many bad shots coupled with injury problems has left B-Diddy as a bust this season.

2. Tracy McGrady (38.8%), Houston Rockets: T-Mac loves to shoot and can be very streaky. Now, he’s on the shelf.

3. Raymond Felton, Charlotte Bobcats (39.4%): Will learn to take better shots.

4. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (40.7%): The former UCLA guard will get better with time as he works off Durant.

5. Randy Foye, Minnesota Timberwolves (40.9%): Nobody in American has seen all of the misses. Have the Timberwolves ever played on national TV?

6. Chauncey Billups, Denver Nuggets (41.6%): Mr. Big Shot is also Mr. Big Miss, but in fairness, he shoots a lot of three balls, and that hurts his percentage.

7. Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks (41.6%): His jumper is as ugly as his kid.

8. Jamal Crawford, Golden State Warriors (41.7%): This baller could drop 30 points or shoot under 30 per cent on any given night.

9. Kevin Martin, Sacramento Kings (41.9%): He forces it a lot, but then again the Kings do suck, so who else is going to chuck it up?

10. Allen Iverson, Detroit Pistons (42.1%): AI has always been a “volume” shooter…everywhere he goes.

Dishonourable mention: Mike Conley (42.4%), Chris Duhon (42.4%), Derek Fisher (42.4%), Mario Chalmers (42.6%), Roger Mason (42.7%), Joe Johnson (43.3%), Nate Robinson (43.8%), Vince Carter (43.9%).

As mentioned before, this list does not determine a player’s overall worth. It is just one factor you should consider when building your fantasy lineup. Also, bear in mind that I tried to focus on fantasy relevant players. I am not going to argue if you say Daniel “Booby” Gibson should be on the list because his percentage is lower than Billups. However, in my mind, anyone named Booby should be a fantasy free agent.

Next: On Wednesday, we’ll take a look at the top-shooting and worst-shooting Forwards.

The Phoenix Suns must be pretty damned happy to be heading home for the All-Star Game, secure in the knowledge that at least someone will be engaging in some stunning play this weekend when Phoenix hosts the festivities. Because, man, Phoenix fans sure as hell haven’t been treated to a hell of a lot of good play from their Suns lately. This is a team that’s been built for a run at the title for several seasons now, but is in free fall mode and could very well be on the verge of being blown up. From 61 wins two seasons ago, to 55 last year, and this season? Thanks to an ugly 6-10 run over the past month, including back-to-back 17-point losses, Phoenix is only on pace for 45 wins for the season. The Suns looked pretty good heading into Christmas, but now look overmatched.

Currently, Phoenix is in ninth place in the Western Conference and on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. Fortunately, eighth-place Utah doesn’t exactly look ready to pull away and, below them, the Suns have no one to fear. But if Phoenix doesn’t get its act together real fast, I think we could be looking at a major rebuilding program in the desert very soon. Working to their advantage, the Suns have an easy go of it coming out of the break, with a home and home against the pathetic Clippers and then another easy home game against Oklahoma City before Boston pays a visit.

Of course, coming off serious beatdowns in Philly and Wednesday night in Cleveland, nothing can be considered easy for these Suns. But they do have a chance to start the second half on a run, so optimism is warranted. Sort of.

Getting hammered by the Cavs especially stung, considering how much Phoenix has had Cleveland’s number in recent years. In fact, the 109-92 loss snapped the Suns’ four-game winning streak against Cleveland. Dating back even further, Phoenix had been on 15-4 run against Cleveland. But as we have all seen this year, these are not your father’s Cavaliers.

Steve Nash definitely is ready for the All-Star break. The dude has been so badly beaten up of late, that Coach Terry Porter decided to give him Wednesday off to get an extra couple of days rest before the second half. A right shoulder problem that he says has caused him pain for weeks has made him a bit gun-shy from downtown. Have you noticed that Nash is attempting just two 3-pointers per game this month? Worse yet, he’s only sinking a fifth of them. Captain Canada definitely needs some downtime, but I’d be very worried about his prospects in the second half, especially if Phoenix starts to slide out of the playoff chase. Wait for a couple of nice lines and then peddle him. Speaking of peddling Nash, he’s been discussed in trade rumours, but the team says that he’s untouchable.

With Nash out, Amare Stoudemire got extra touches – 21 of them to be exact. He only sunk nine, but combined with his excellent work at the line, that was good enough for 27 points – his highest scoring game since January 29. Stat hasn’t exactly been dominating the glass the past three games, but he did record his second straight three-block game. Still, it’s pretty obvious that he’s mentally checked out of this situation given his recent comments. The rumours are flying fast and furious now, and a trade out of Phoenix can’t happen soon enough for both him and the team. Stoudemire has stayed healthy again this season, but after shooting a career best 59 per cent last year, he hasn’t come close to matching that, and his scoring has dropped off substantially as a result. He’s also struggled to share frontcourt touches with Shaquille O’Neal, as the two of them tend to trade big nights, but rarely have good games together.

Grant Hill, who we recommended as a decent wire pickup back in December, has proved to be a bit inconsistent lately, but he came through with an efficient 14 points Wednesday on 6-of-8 shooting, adding five boards, three assists and a block. Hill has been playing a bit less the last couple of months, but he’s been highly efficient (he’s now shooting a career best 52.5 per cent from the field) as his scoring just keeps rising each month. Another untouchable (according to the Suns’ brass), Hill could be in for a big hike in offensive responsibilities depending on how the trade deadline shakes out for Phoenix.

Phoenix, the best-shooting team in the NBA, shot 65 per cent in the first half on Wednesday, yet somehow trailed 64-52 heading into the second half. What’s up with that?

Normal second-unit offensive sparkplug Leandro Barbosa — another apparent untouchable on the Suns — got the start at PG with Nash out. And while being the floor general seemed to affect his offense (he was just 4-for-10 for nine points and one 3-pointer), he did manage to drop seven dimes and pick up four boards with two steals, so all was not lost for his owners. Barbosa has cooled off from downtown tremendously after his blazing January, but he’s still filling it up from beyond the arc better than he was to start the season. Overall, however, this has been an incredibly disappointing season for the Brazilian Blur, who has simply not been able to build on his breakout campaign of two years ago. Clearly, he’s no longer a must-own fantasy asset in standard sized leagues.