From Bright Side of the Sun, some analysis of last night’s win for Phoenix:

At Suns Media Day a couple months back, Steve Nash was asked how he felt. The 36 year old point guard looked down and thought for a moment, then replied with a smile: “joyous.” The joyous Steve Nash led the Suns with 30 points in a hard fought come-from-behind victory against the Miami Heat tonight, 104-96. While going 4-5 from three-point range, Nash also became the Suns All-Time 3-point leader.

Nash is playing as well as he’s had in at least two or three years.

Last night’s heroics from Nash come on the heels of his game-winner last week, which he awesomely-termed an “old white guy” shot. And it prompts a question: Steve Nash is 36 and has been “due to decline” for at least a few years now, and yet, almost like an accident of nature, Steve Nash got better when he left Dallas, and each year since, it seems like he’s become more and more valuable for Phoenix. But... It’s not supposed to work that way.

People get old, their skin gets saggy, and they stop caring as much about appearance, and soon… well, Shaq and Meg Ryan have followed the same career arc. In the 90s, nobody compared. Now? It’s legitimately difficult to watch either one of them.

By contrast, most guards get old like Jason Kidd and Marisa Tomei. They are both still great—rent Before the Devil Knows Your Dead—but there’s been an unmistakable decline. When superstars in the NBA get older, like leading female actresses, they just have to learn to accept lesser roles, and sometimes have to do things that they never would have considered five years ago (like a nude scene, or coming off the bench).

When they can’t do that, like Allen Iverson in Detroit last year, the results can be disastrous. Overnight, you can go from the toast of the league to borderline untouchable. Nobody wants to build a team around 35-year-old Iverson, just like nobody wants to build a movie around 40-year-old Cameron Diaz. They have Dwyane Wade and Kristen Bell for those roles now.

And yet, Steve Nash is the ultimate exception. Because of his craftiness, he’s more watchable now than ever before. He’s always been good, but as the years pass, it really seems like he’s getting better. His team’s are still running and gunning, he’s still a dead-eye shooter, and as he proved against the Clippers last week, he can still carve up a defense in crunch time.

For years, he’s scored about 15 points-a-game and dished 10-11 assists. But more than that, he’s kept the Suns competitive while the roster has slowly crumbled around him. Even last season, without Amare, the Suns were still a decent team, all because Nash was so good. The obvious parallel, here, is Jennifer Aniston.

She’s always been hot, but as the years pass, she somehow keeps getting hotter. Friends-era Aniston was like Nash on the Mavericks—very good, but nothing particularly remarkable. And when she left Friends and Nash left Dallas, we all assumed would gradually decline from there. That’s just the way things work.

But then, aging played a trick on us, and both have gotten exponentially better as the years progress, to where Aniston, 40 years old, is among the hottest actresses in Hollywood, and Nash is one of the NBA’s best point guards at 36 years old. HE SHOULDN’T BE THIS GOOD—and yet, there he was last night, outshining Dwyane Wade, a top 5 player in his prime, using old white guy layups and spot-up threes to dismantle an undefeated team.

Like Jennifer Aniston, I don’t understand how any of this is happening with Nash and the Suns. They shouldn’t still be relevant. And who knows how long it’ll last, for that matter. But damnit, let’s enjoy it while it lasts.

In a battle between the “Suns” and “Heat,” it’s only natural that a guy from Western Canada would wind up stealing the show…

For bloggy goodness on the Suns and Heat, check out SB Nation communities Bright Side Of The Sun and Peninsula Is Mightier.

(Sports Network) - Steve Nash scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half to carry the Suns to a 104-96 victory over the Heat in a battle of early undefeated clubs at American Airlines Arena.

Nash hit four three-pointers and doled out eight assists for Phoenix, which has won its first four games of the year. Amare Stoudemire posted 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Grant Hill also recorded a double-double with 10 and 12.

Jason Richardson netted 14 points for the Suns, who outscored Miami, 29-15, in the fourth quarter.

Dwyane Wade's 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists weren't enough to move the Heat to 4-0. Quentin Richardson ended with 18 points and 10 boards, while Jermaine O'Neal and Michael Beasley chipped in 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Udonis Haslem pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go with 10 points in the loss.

The Suns trailed the entire second half until Jason Richardson buried a three from the left corner to tie it, 84-84, with eight minutes left in the game.

Jared Dudley's three-point play gave the visitors the lead, and back-to-back Nash and Jason Richardson three-balls around a Quentin Richardson jumper extend the margin to 95-88.

Nash converted a three-point play after the teams traded points for a 102-93 cushion with two minutes left, and the Heat missed their final three attempts from downtown to fall just short.

The Heat led, 26-23, after the first quarter. After giving up the lead early in the second, a 17-1 run highlighted by two Beasley dunks and a Wade throw- down made it 50-37 with under three minutes to play before intermission.

Phoenix trimmed its deficit to 52-44 at the break and made it a six-point game, 81-75, heading to the game-altering final period.

Phoenix is 4-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season...Miami started 3-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 squad kicked off the campaign with four consecutive triumphs...The Suns were without guard Leandro Barbosa (wrist)... Miami's Daequan Cook sat out with a strained right shoulder...Louis Amundson had 10 points off the bench for Phoenix, which shot 50.6 percent from the field, compared to Miami's 40-percent effort.