Can’t buy a bucket right now…

You don’t have to tell us how valuable Shawn Marion is to the Suns. Steve Nash has the hardware and Amare Stoudemire gets more attention, but like we said when we featured Matrix in our Dec. ‘06 issue (Arenas cover), Marion is like the offensive line to the Suns: they don’t go anywhere without him. And you saw it last night, as Marion’s sore hand and sore quad kept him on the bench and Phoenix lost to the Sixers on the road. The Suns never led in the game and without Shawn’s rebounding, defense and pick-and-roll finishes and overall hustle play, the team was simply outplayed by Philly. Andre Iguodala went for 24 points, 7 boards and 7 dimes, and Willie Green (where’s he been?) dropped 20 points … The Grizzlies had an upset of their own going against the Jazz, leading by as much as 16 in the first quarter. But Utah got their act together and won by 16. Carlos Boozer scored 24 points and pulled down 16 boards, offsetting Pau Gasol’s 28-13 … Maybe T-Mac was still feeling sick from the flu-like bug that kept him out of Houston’s last game, but he nor the Rockets seemed very into it while they got smacked by the Raptors at home. Andrea Bargnani went for 20 points in the win, and how about Kris Humphries scoring 16? Has he done that since he left Minnesota early? … Gilbert Arenas is officially slumping. In his last three games, Arenas is 14-for-65 from the floor (21 percent) and 4-for-31 on treys (12 percent). At least Gil is hitting from the stripe, shooting 82 percent during that stretch … Agent Zero was cold against playing Miami last night, and Washington had nothing for Shaq. Being “guarded” 1-on-1 by Brendan Haywood for most of the game, Shaq put up 23 points, 10 boards and 3 blocks, abusing Haywood over and over again and having one vintage stretch of dominance in the second half where he was scoring all of Miami’s points. “If somebody thinks he’s too old or too whatever, at the end of the day the man’s still over 300 pounds,” Haywood told reporters afterwards. “When somebody weighs that much more than you, there’s nothing you can really do if there’s no double-team coming. It’s like playing against your big brother. You can try as hard as you want to, but he’s older and bigger than you and there’s nothing you can do.” Said Diesel: “I’m known as The Big Sewer, because I’ve got a lot of you-know-what in my game.” Classic … The Celtics honored Dennis Johnson before the game, the Boston crowd booed Isiah Thomas during intros, and the C’s went out and actually won a game. Boston led big in the first half, blew the lead late, and then Gerald Green (21 pts) got hot and helped them pull it out … Could you tell Ron Artest (knee) and Emeka Okafor (calf) didn’t play last night? No defense being played at all, with the Kings beat the ‘Cats in a 135-120 arcade game. Kevin Martin dropped 36 points, Mike Bibby had 30 (and a PG-rated version of the Sam Cassell Dance), and Gerald Wallace scored 31 for Charlotte … Speaking of Artest, you can read his first Dime “Ask Ron” advice column, then send him your own questions right here … Chris Paul would never admit to having something to prove against the Hawks (they passed on him in the draft, remember?) but he played like he had a chip on his shoulder yesterday, giving ATL 24 points, 13 dimes and 4 steals … In college ball, Texas beat Texas A&M in a double-OT win. Kevin Durant put up 30 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks, and he hit the clutch FTs at the end of the second OT to keep Texas ahead. Acie Law scored 33 for A&M, including two huge treys that forced each overtime. The first one Law hit over Durant with 1.1 ticks left in regulation. At the end of the game, the Texas fans were chanting “Three more years!” at Durant … Villanova frosh guard Scottie Reynolds put a 40-spot on UConn, including 6 treys … UMass hung 102 points on La Salle in a 39-point piecing. Stephane Lasme is becoming a triple-double machine for the Minutemen, and he doesn’t do it the conventional way. He had 17 points, 10 bounds and 10 blocks … We’re out like Matrix …

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