Suns are NBA's biggest early surprise

Nearly two weeks into the NBA season, things are shaping up pretty much as expected – with one exception.

I’m not sure anyone thought the Phoenix Suns would be off to such a fast start. The Suns improved to 6-1 by beating Washington on Sunday afternoon and during their current road trip have knocked off Boston and Miami.

This is basically the same roster that failed to reach the playoffs last season except for Channing Frye taking the place of Shaquille O’Neal. What a trade that turned out to be, since Frye, who never saw the court in Portland, is averaging 13.5 points and leading a crew of lights-out 3-point shooters by making 16 of 33.

Shooting accuracy is definitely a strength, with the Suns posting a .501 field-goal percentage overall and .470 from 3-point range. Amare Stoudemire (19.7 ppg), Steve Nash (19.0 points, 11.0 assists), Jason Richardson (17.8 ppg) and Leandro Barbosa (15.7) have all been reliable scorers.

Depth isn’t a strength, with Barbosa and forward Jared Dudley the only real contributors off the bench. Meanwhile, Nash will turn 36 before the all-star break, while starting forward Grant Hill is already 37.

So who knows how long this will last? But Phoenix is definitely the surprise team of early November.

Here are the rankings from 1 to 30:

1. Lakers (5-1): Pau Gasol missed the start of the season with an injury and the Lakers have barely noticed.

2. Boston (7-1): Another old team that may be better now than it is in May.

3. Phoenix (6-1): Tough to argue with road wins in Miami and Boston.

4. Orlando (5-2): Orlando was trounced in Oklahoma City on Sunday without Vince Carter.

5. Denver (5-2): Carmelo Anthony is averaging 31.4 points.

6. Miami (5-1): Enjoying a home-heavy start to the schedule.

7. Atlanta (5-2): Beat Portland on the road and Denver by 25.

8. Dallas (4-2): Only team to beat the Lakers so far.

9. Houston (4-2): Surprisingly scrappy without Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady.

10. Bulls (4-2): Interesting that they’ve won games while shooting so poorly.

11. Cleveland (4-3): Shaquille O’Neal experiment off to a slow start, literally.

12. Toronto (3-3): Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani appear headed for their best seasons.

13. Portland (3-3): Andre Miller hasn’t fit in as seamlessly as Blazers hoped.

14. Oklahoma City (3-3): Definitely a dangerous squad with Kevin Durant in his third year.

15. San Antonio (2-3): Spurs have dropped some tough road games, but still a disappointment.

16. Milwaukee (3-2): Scott Skiles will get his players focused on defense sooner rather than later.

17. Charlotte (3-3): May not be as bad as people think. Gerald Wallace is the league’s top rebounder.

18. Detroit (3-4): Don’t blame Ben Gordon. Both Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince have been hurt.

19. Philadelphia (3-3): Lou Williams and Marreese Speights have been solid so far.

20. Clippers (3-4): Hanging in there without top draft pick Blake Griffin.

21. Indiana (2-3): Maybe when Mike Dunleavy comes back, they’ll finally improve.

22. New Orleans (2-4): Sad how quickly the Hornets have fallen.

23. Utah (2-4): Lost at home to Sacramento on Saturday. Anyone want Boozer?

24. Sacramento (2-4): Top scorer Kevin Martin is out with a broken wrist.

25. Washington (2-5): Opening win at Dallas didn’t carry very far.

26. Golden State (1-3): Still trying to trade Stephen Jackson.

27. Minnesota (1-5): Don’t worry, Ricky Rubio will change everything.

28. New York (1-6): The Knicks’ mediocre roster is still underachieving.

29. Memphis (1-6): Allen Iverson will go home for a while.

30. New Jersey: (0-7): Devin Harris is hurt and Chris Douglas-Roberts has swine flu.