Phoenix 99, Oklahoma City 98 

This, for someone like Steve Nash, is not mincing words:

"It sure looks like we're just a little too reliant on Shaq. We're just not quite comfortable playing without him the way we used to play because we spend so much time trying to incorporate him. Terry [Porter]'s been working with us and trying to get us to get back to doing some of the things we used to do, things that we're good at, when he's not on the floor."

He's sick of going to Shaquille O'Neal (who sat this one out) repeatedly in the post because ... well, he's Shaq. Nash is sick of playing half court basketball just for the sake of playing half court basketball, he's sick of pretending to be a defensive team when four in five Suns can barely keep up with anyone defensively, and he didn't like having to carry Phoenix on his back as they tried to make up for a fourth quarter deficit against a 1-13 team.

Well, they're 1-14 now, so who wouldn't mind a player/assistant coach designation at this point?

Another big turnover game for Nash, he had seven (and that's 15, combined, in two games), but he also had 20 points, eight rebounds, and 15 assists. And the Suns won against a Thunder team that appears to feel a little guilty over P.J. Carlesimo's firing, but doesn't have the talent to do anything about it.

Washington 124, Golden State 100

Things are starting to unravel for the Warriors, and that tends to happen when you start four guards at a time. Third straight loss for Golden State, to teams with a combined record of 16-25.

Washington had a little hop in its step under new coach Ed Tapscott, using its size and muscle against an overmatched Warriors team. 27 assists on 53 field goals, but far less Princeton, and a decided rebounding edge (54 to 40) that turned the tide.

Golden State's newest typical Warrior, Jamal Crawford, finished with nine points on 10 shots and didn't get to the line in almost 30 minutes.

Cleveland 119, New York 101

New York just didn't have a chance against a rolling Cavs squad, Cleveland was up by over 20 points before anyone could catch their breath, and that was even with Tim Thomas pulling in more per-minute rebounds (six in 24 minutes) than he ever came through with in his first tour of duty with the Knicks.

LeBron James was fantastic, with 26 points on only 14 shots in 30 minutes, but it was the rest of the Cavaliers having their way with New York offensively that turned this into an early rout. Cleveland entered the game averaging 114 points per 100 possessions, and finished this one with 124; astronomical numbers for a Cavalier team that has been an offensive zero for years.

Dallas 109, Indiana 106

Blacked out on my end, but it appears that Jason Kidd is continuing his nice little rebound year (11 points, 13 assists, two turnovers, three steals, eight rebounds), T.J. Ford had only 10 points on 10 shots, and Jason Terry continues to play white hot ball off the bench.

29 points on 20 shots, five assists, and just one turnover in 36 minutes for JET on Tuesday. Antoine Wright (24 points) will also do that once every six weeks.

Los Angeles Lakers 120, New Jersey 93

Focus appeared to be a problem for the Lakers in the first half, the team went into halftime with a two point lead but ... come on. They're the Lakers. And they're playing the Nets.

Pau Gasol (26 points in 31 minutes) had another efficient game, Andrew Bynum (15 and six, no turnovers, two assists in 27 minutes) was also active defensively, and Los Angeles' bench corps kept a real sense of pressure on the Nets, especially starting in the second quarter.

Props to the Nets for continuing to fight, but they're going to continue to lose if they let teams force them into the sorts of shots that the good teams want them to take. 34.5 percent shooting for New Jersey in the loss.

Related: Behind the boxscore