Steve Nash admits leg injury has hurt his shooting

Steve Nash is a career 43 percent shooter from beyond the arc. In 14 NBA seasons only one time did he shoot less than 40 percent on the season, and he still shot a respectable 37.4 percent.

So you know something is wrong when since Nov. 15 — when he strained his groin — Nash was hitting just 19 percent of his threes (5 of 26). That was heading into Wednesday night, when in 31 minutes of play he didn’t even attempt a three.

He admitted to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic that the groin injury has really bothered him.

“It’s been really difficult for me,” Nash said. “Hopefully if I can get healthy again, I can obviously shoot it better. It’s just the movement. All these areas and problems are making me move incorrectly, and I can’t just get the rhythm from distance.”

With this Suns team, they can’t afford anything less than a 100 percent Nash. While the return of Robin Lopez last night helps their interior defense, this is still a team that is all about scoring so much you just can’t keep up. And if one of the game’s most efficient shooters is off, it’s going to be a long, hot winter in Phoenix.