NBA Playoffs: Don't Expect Suns To Pity Blazers' Injury Woes

Hurts, don't it?

That's what Steve Nash and others associated with the Suns over the last five years are saying to themselves after Portland's Brandon Roy became another victim to the injury bug.

Roy has decided to undergo surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus, and Blazers fans, management, and observers are already putting asterisks and "It's too bad..." next to their takes on the Suns/Blazers first-round matchup.

Just don't expect the same pity from Phoenix.

Look, Phoenix has suffered their own playoff misfortune over the last few years. Ridiculous suspensions aside, their recent postseason history has been equally marred.

First and most obvious, the Suns are without their one legit center in Robin Lopez. Jarron Collins is a banging bit player-turned-starter and Channing Frye is a shooting softy who won't rebound or use his length consistently on defense.

Delving into postseasons past, you'll find Phoenix headlining the league's IL.

Joe Johnson fractures an eye socket after Dallas' Jerry Stackhouse performs the always ill-advised chase-down block attempt, which sent Johnson to the floor and the emergency room.

Behind Johnson on the depth chart? An overachieving Jimmy Jackson and undeveloped Leandro Barbosa (7.1 minutes-per-game).

Johnson, the do-everything facet of the Suns high-octane offense, was unavailable until the middle of the following round. By that time, the Spurs had already seized momentum of the series.

2006, Part One

After their '05 exit to the Spurs, the Suns were picked by many to hold their first Larry O'Brien trophy after getting their necessary and cliche "playoff experience."

Instead, word trickled out of training camp that Amare Stoudemire's knee was troubling him, and that he would undergo a precautionary MRI. That in turn revealed the need for the dreaded micro-fracture surgery, 86-ing Amare's season.

It's funny how nobody pitied the Suns like they're pitying the Blazers despite both teams having injury-riddled, 50-win seasons.

2006, Part Two

Despite Amare's absence, the Suns overachieved by coming back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Lakers, ousting the Clippers in seven games, and facing a Mavericks team that had just overcome the Spurs in seven games of their own.

Up to that point, the Suns' most consistent playoff performer had been Raja Bell, who took it upon himself to add a shooter's killer instinct to his defensive tenacity.

Of course, that must have just drawn the basketball gods' attention. Bell suffered a partially torn calf muscle early in the series and attempted in vain to play through it the rest of the way.

If you're looking for suspension talk, sorry to disappoint. I've already hashed that out before , and besides, we're talking about injuries here.

Instead of Game Four of the Suns/Spurs semifinal series, I'm shifting focus to the closing minutes of Game One. In a collision intentional only on the part of the basketball gods (whose sole purpose is to ensure Phoenix never wins a championship), Steve Nash had his nose ripped open.

After pudding wads of bandages that came to resemble semi-solid bubble gum, Nash gamely kept playing, making clutch shot after clutch shot.

But the blood kept coming, and as a result, Nash had to sit the final few possessions. This was when the Nash-or-nothing effect was still present, so without Nash, the Spurs took Game One.

With Nash on the floor playing the way he'd been playing up to that point? Intriguing, isn't it?

The point is, the Suns have gone through (and are still going through) what Portland is currently undertaking: playing with key players injured. Phoenix understands this better than anyone except the '89 Lakers.

Just don't expect Phoenix or their fans to pity them for it.