Suns coach Alvin Gentry has an ideal description for Jared Dudley’s play — parasitic.

Dudley is the NBA’s parasite. He using his hustle, savvy and opportunity to benefit at the expense of those who are less engaged. The latest example has been his play since returning to the starting lineup. He has feasted off being fouled, took advantage of point guard Steve Nash creating open 3-point shots and using angles and reads to get to balls against players who are bigger or quicker.

The Suns had to go without that Saturday night, when Dudley sat out the Suns’ home game against Charlotte because of a thigh bruise. Dudley has scored at least 15 points in each of the four starts he has made since a five-game bench stint. He went from averaging 5.8 points as a reserve to averaging 16.3 in those four starts.

“This is what I was supposed to do,” Dudley said. “I expected to do this just because I know I can shoot the ball, and I know I can play, especially with Steve and this offense. I think I’ve even added a dimension where I can get to the basket to drop off and make my teammates better.”

The Suns are 5-3 when Dudley scores 15, but that scoring was inconsistent on his first go-around as starter this season, when he opened it in a shooting slump. Dudley has made eight of his past 15 3s, bolstering his career-best season for scoring (10.8) and rebounding (4.1) averages.

Dudley shot 3 for 13 in the first two games, both losses, and did not score in the second game against Philadelphia — a remarkable no-no for a starting shooting guard .

“The chemistry in the first part of the season was tough,” Dudley said. “Guys were staying home close (to me on defense). I’ve had a lot more space and been able to put the ball down better. Once you hit a couple, it’s confidence. I told you in the beginning of the year that you go by percentages. At the end of the year, I’m going to be shooting a good percentage.”

Dudley had scored 23 of his 65 points over the previous four games at the free-throw line. It was the first time in his career that he shot at least four free throws in four consecutive games.

“It’s something I’ve worked on, and my free-throw percentage (81.4) has gotten better,” Dudley said. “That’s something I worked on, and that makes you even more aggressive. It’s hard for me to get all the way to the basket because I’m not the fastest guy. Usually someone’s on my hip and (I) try to do what the whole NBA does — flop and … pray for a call. I did theater in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th grades, so I have to pay off for those classes.”

Guard Michael Redd started in Dudley’s place Saturday night, getting his first start with Phoenix in 10 appearances.

Free throws

- Suns center Marcin Gortat has a chance to become the seventh Suns player to average at least 15 points and 10 rebounds in a season. One of the others was current Charlotte coach Paul Silas. Charles Barkley (four times), Shawn Marion (three) and Neal Walk (two) did it multiple times, and Connie Hawkins and Maurice Lucas also each did it once.

- The Suns have played 23 games in this lockout-shortened season. The NBA’s previous lockout-shortened schedule, in 1999, tipped off on this date — Feb. 5.

- This season is the 20th for US Airways Center. The Suns have a losing record at home this season but have the fourth-best home record in the NBA since the arena opened with in 1992-93, when the Suns reached the NBA Finals. They have won more than 70 percent of their home games.

The Phoenix Suns haven’t earned too many wins lately, especially at home,
but a matchup with the NBA’s worst team would appear to provide the opportunity
for a rare victory.

The Suns will try to record their second win in six games at the U.S.
Airways Center on Saturday night when they face the short-handed Charlotte
Bobcats.

Phoenix (8-14) is 4-10 over its last 14 games after a 99-81 loss in Houston
on Friday in which it trailed by 20 points at the half.

“We need to play harder and play ‘grown-man’ basketball and not get pushed
around,” coach Alvin Gentry said. “You have to compete and match energy with
energy. I wasn’t pleased with anything we did.”

The Suns’ next opponent knows displeasure all too well.

The Bobcats (3-20) have lost 10 straight for their longest skid since a
franchise-record 13 consecutive defeats Jan. 11-Feb. 1, 2006. They’re also 1-12
on the road this season and on the verge of losing 11 in a row there for the
first time since Nov. 7, 2007-Jan. 4, 2008.

To make matters worse, Charlotte likely won’t have leading scorer Gerald
Henderson for two to four weeks because of a strained right hamstring. An
injured toe has kept starting point guard D.J. Augustin out of the last six
games, including the worst loss in franchise history Wednesday.

After getting beat by 33 points to open a four-game trip, the Bobcats were
thumped 112-68 by Portland.

“It’s been unbelievably hard. And there’s really nothing I can do about it.
The guys are playing as hard as they can. We just don’t have enough (talent) at
this particular point,” coach Paul Silas said. “You take the three top players
off anyone’s team, and they’re not going to do well.”

The Bobcats, though, have done well against the Suns lately with four
straight wins in the series and two in a row in Phoenix after dropping their
first five games there.

Boris Diaw had 18 points against his former team during a 114-107 win at the
U.S. Airways Center on Jan. 26, 2011, but the other five players who scored in
double figures in that game are either injured or no longer with the team.

The forward also scored a team-best 26 points during a 123-105 home victory
on Nov. 20, 2010. He has averaged 23.0 points on 66.7 percent shooting and 9.0
rebounds over his last three games in Phoenix, where he played three-plus
seasons before being traded in a six-player deal Dec. 11, 2008.

Steve Nash, meanwhile, will try to improve on his 24.0-point average over
his last three home matchups with Charlotte. He scored 27 points on 11-of-15
shooting during the loss on Jan. 26.

The Portland Trail Blazers absolutely smoked the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night (Feb. 1). The reality is that Blazers fans should worry if the Blazers didn’t run up the score on the worst team in the NBA. It’s just too bad that the Blazers only get to play the Bobcats one time this year in the abridged NBA schedule.

After a good practice on Tuesday (Jan. 31), this looked like a completely different Blazers team. Something must have clicked, because against the Bobcats the team was spreading the floor well, presenting a press defense that we hadn’t seen and running the fast break with a confidence that simply hadn’t been there. That is in addition to the great defensive presence of Marcus Camby , who deserves some strong consideration for NBA Defensive Player of the Year with how well he has been defending for the Blazers.

The Blazers scored a season-high 35 points in the first quarter, had 61 at halftime and from there it was an easy cruise to free chalupas for the Rose Garden crowd. Everything about this game was fun for the fans, but maybe not quite as interesting as a close game against a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, it’s nice to watch a game that more resembles a track meet than anything else, especially because of the smiles that cross the faces of nearly every Blazers player. Getting the last five guys at the end of the bench some significant action will likely help the team in the long-term as well.

Jamal Crawford finished as the leading scorer for the team in just 21 minutes, putting up 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Gerald Wallace was 7-for-14 on his way to 23 points and LaMarcus Aldridge finished 8-for-16 from the field to score 22 points. This was the best shooting game of the season for the Blazers, simultaneously taking place during the best defensive game of the year as well. At one point, Marcus Camby had 3 blocks in about 15 second of game time. Camby finished with 5 blocks, 4 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds in just 25 minutes of work.

Despite a rough fourth quarter shooting-wise, the Blazers finished this one off pretty easily to post a 112-68 win over the hapless Bobcats. It’s noteworthy that the biggest win in franchise history was 50 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers and that the team came very close to setting a new mark in this one. It was also nice that 12 players scored for the Blazers in the win.

Now the Blazers head down to California for a game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night (Feb. 2) that starts at 7 p.m. PT.

More From YCN :

Blazers Beat Suns By 38

Lakers Blown Out By Portland

Blazers Take Out Thunder

Blazers Predicted to Miss Playoffs

Blazers_Make_Another_Trade

Sources:

Blazers_Team_Stats

Blazers Full Schedule

Blazers Preseason Schedule

Blazers Team Page

Blazers Updated Roster

*Ryan is a Northwest bred sports fan that has been a Portland Trail Blazers fan for years. He doesn’t miss a game, and has high hopes that the Blazers can improve their roster during the offseason and come back even better in the 2011-12 NBA season.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Apparently, I was very generous in my game preview when I said the Charlotte Bobcats would score 92 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. In actuality, the Bobcats put up only 73 points against the Lakers at the Staples Center – 19 points shy of my predicted total.

The Lakers wanted to make a statement before heading out on a six-game road trip over the next two weeks – one that doesn’t return the Lakers back to Los Angeles until February 14—and the Lakers did more than make a statement, they absolutely destroyed the Bobcats.

For the third straight time, the Lakers beat the visiting Bobcats at the Staples Center and did so in impressive fashion. For the first two quarters, the Lakers outscored the Bobcats with the exact same total, 30-18. In fact, Kobe Bryant had 18 first quarter points, matching the Bobcats total. And despite the Bobcats outscoring the Lakers 22-13 in the third quarter, the Lakers capped off the blowout with a 33-15 fourth quarter. The best part of all the stats may have been the amount of minutes Bryant didn’t have to play and got to spend resting.

Bryant contributed his fair share scoring 24 points—all in the first half—on 9-of-21 shooting, in 27 minutes, but as a fan, it was nice to see that the Lakers didn’t have to depend on Bryant putting up 35 shots in order for them to walk away with a win. After not scoring over 100 points for 13 consecutive games in January, the Lakers scored 106 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 29 and again scored 106 against the league’s worst team on January 31.

The Bobcats lost their ninth-straight game and barely stood a chance against the Lakers who were on the hapless Bobcats from the beginning. The immediate implications of this victory are yet to be seen, but I would have to believe that a win of such magnitude, and their second straight 106-point performance, has to give the Lakers a good amount of momentum as they head out on the road to face some tough challenges.

On their upcoming road trip the Lakers face some teams playing solid basketball, including the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, and the Philadelphia 76ers. Their first matchup of the road trip for the Lakers will be the Nuggets, who are in third in the Western Conference and have lost two straight after rattling off six straight wins from January 17-27.

I would like to believe the Lakers are going to try and take advantage of the small stumble the Nuggets have experienced and try to climb the Western Conference rankings while improving on their 2-7 road record.

David is co-founder of wrapupp sports blog where they post fresh content daily and present sports blogs and sports opinions – all with a West Coast bias. Growing up in the Bay Area, David is a huge supporter of all the local sports teams; the Giants, Athletics, Warriors, Sharks, 49ers, and Raiders. His one fault, admittedly, as many of his friends and family would say, is his love for the Los Angeles Lakers. Growing up, Magic Johnson was his favorite basketball player and he fell in love with the team. He chalks it up to, “Not knowing any better”. Now his love for sports has turned just as academic as it is intuitive and he follows most all sports all over the nation.

You can follow David on Twitter: @officialwrapupp

Sources:

NBA.com. Lakers vs. Bobcats Recap. NBA 2012.

More from David Mehrwein and the Yahoo! Contributor Network:

San Francisco Giants FanFest: A Fan’s Guide

Nyjer Morgan Set to Practice with Sharks: Fan Reaction

San Jose Sharks Vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: Fan Preview

Los Angeles Lakers Vs. Charlotte Bobcats: Fan Preview

Golden State Warriors Vs. Sacramento Kings: Fan Preview

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