Two things jump out after the Suns lost to Dallas on Wednesday night. First, obviously the rebounding effort by the Suns was atrocious. Nineteen offensive rebounds for the Mavs as Josh Howard and Erick Dampier combined for ten of them. Too many second and third chance opportunities for the Mavs.

The other thing that was troublesome was just how long it took Amare Stoudamire to get his head in the game. Defensively, he was letting Dampier have his way early on. Offensively, he got off to a real slow start. Stoudemire recovered to lead the team with 25 points, but his motivation took too long to come around.

It’s frustrating it took Phoenix so long to decide to play. The Suns outscored the Mavs 85-71 after the first quarter.

Another slow start, another example of a lack of early inspiration, which cost this team another win.