Now I love it when a team runs the same play twice in a row or more.  There is just something about it that says, “we are going to run this down your throat and it is up to you to stop it.”  It is also fun to watch the defense try to adjust to stop the play getting run over and over.  Late against the Blazers, the Suns ran a quick hitter to get Jason Richardson a good look at the rim.  It worked so well that the Suns decided to run it again the next time down the court:

After getting the ball on the side, Nash quickly enters it to Amar’e Stoudemire on the elbow.

After making the pass, Nash comes down and sets a screen for Richardson.  Richardson comes off of it, and as he does, the Blazers switch it.

Reading the switch, Richardson decides to curl around Amar’e to make his cut to the basket.  The key Blazer to watch here is Brandon Roy.  He has to stay close to Grant Hill, so he can’t be in proper help position.

Amar’e throws a pinpoint pass and Richardson is able to get the shot up before the help comes.  This is a big basket with the Suns only down 4, as they are able to stretch the lead to 6..

The next time down the court (after a Portland miss), the Suns come down and look to run this set again.  This time the Blazers try to defend it differently, but the Suns counter and are able to get another lay-in.

After walking it up, Nash enters it to Stoudemire on the elbow once again.

After making the pass, Nash once again comes down to set the screen for Jason Richardson.  Notice how Martell Webster is defending Richardson now.  Instead of playing off of him, as he was during the first set, he is attached to his body.  Webster is doing this because he wants to prevent Richardson from rubbing elbows with Nash.  If he can get himself between Nash and Richardson, he renders the screen useless.  This tells you that the Blazers aren’t going to be switching the screen, and instead Webster is going to try and fight through it.

Richardson reads this, and after coming off of Nash’s screen, he dives right to the basket instead of curling around Stoudemire.  Again, let’s look at Brandon Roy.  He should be in help position, however, he is attached to Grant Hill’s hip.  Don’t know if this was designed, but if it wasn’t, this could be the injury playing a factor.  Maybe Roy knows he can’t close out quick enough, so he needs to stay closer to Hill than he normally would.

Richardson makes the catch and finishes at the rim once again.  Just like that, the Suns are able to take a 4 point lead and stretch it out to 8, just by running the same play.