ESPN NBA

PHOENIX -- With no Amare Stoudemire coming to the rescue, the slumping Phoenix Suns know that their speed and scoring are the keys to survival in the postseason.

That might not be enough to succeed when the going gets rough, as it always does, in the playoffs. Across the NBA, the Suns are being written off as a title contender.

"And rightly so," Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said after the team's workout on Thursday. "If you're making an educated guess, I'd write us off. I'd even be trying to get into seventh place [in the Western Conference] to play us right now.

"But I think people are going to be surprised, and you'd probably better be careful what you wish for."

After all, the Suns built a solid lead in the Pacific Division without Stoudemire through 66 games while awaiting the big forward's return. He tried to come back, but lasted just three contests.

Stoudemire underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday, putting to rest any thoughts the All-Star forward would be back for a run at the title this season.

That was no huge surprise, because the team had always known he might not return due to the seriousness of the surgery he had undergone on his left knee before the season began.

His other knee developed problems during rehabilitation, and that led to the second surgery.

Without Stoudemire, the Suns still had a strong presence inside on defense with the acquisition of Kurt Thomas. But Thomas went down in late February with a stress fracture in his right foot, and won't return until the second round of the playoffs at the earliest.

That has led to a breakdown in interior defense, a weakness never more apparent than in the team's listless 119-105 home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.

"We know the problem," D'Antoni said. "We've pinpointed it. Everybody knows it. Now we'll see how much heart and fortitude we can put into it. If we do that, we'll be fine."

The Suns have lost four of six and are 7-8 since their season-best 11-game winning streak.

D'Antoni called the performance against the Clippers the team's worst of the season, and All-Star forward Shawn Marion agreed.

"Like coach said, that was rock bottom last night," Marion said. "I think everybody was a little winded last night, whether they're saying it or not. I'm going to say it: I was tired."

No team relies more on energy and constant motion than the Suns.

"We're undersized," forward James Jones said. "Regardless of what schemes we have and what things we do, we're still going to be undersized. I mean, you can't get away from that. So if teams really hammer down and try to exploit that, we have to give a little bit more energy and get up and down the floor to neutralize their size."

Good shooting would help, too. The team was awful from the floor on Wednesday.

The Suns have eight games left in the regular season, beginning at home Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers, a team Phoenix could well face in the first round.

Phoenix still leads the second-place Clippers by five games in the Pacific Division, and will lock up the No. 2 seed in the West if it can hold on for the division title. That would mean the Suns would not face either San Antonio or Dallas through the first two rounds.

But that amounts to nothing if the team can't regroup and recharge the run-and-shoot style that has led to 49 victories.

"It's good that we got slapped around a little bit to understand what we have to do to win in the playoffs," D'Antoni said. "It hasn't gotten home yet, but hopefully with last night, it will."

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press