"The Suns finally will come home to US Airways Center for a game Tuesday after 10 days away.

They had better start taking advantage of their home court if they want to be a playoff team.

The NBA season turns four weeks old today, roughly the end of the first quarter of the schedule, and there already is the notion among many fans that the Suns would be better off losing -- moving lower in the standings to secure a strong draft pick.

That is not how the locker room or the coaches' office thinks. They are looking for a turnaround to make a playoff chase, but it has become clear early in the NBA season that the Suns will not get there without rolling at home. They have been rolling over at home, going 3-4 with regrettable losses to New Orleans, Cleveland and New Jersey.

The top 10 West teams have excellent home records; the bottom five have losing marks. The prime distinction between the Suns' Western Conference finals team of 2010 and the non-playoff team last year was that nine of last season's additional 14 losses came at home."