Porter was then replaced by Alvin Gentry in February after a 28–23 record, but the Suns were unable to secure the final seed for the 2009 playoffs, resulting in Nash missing the playoffs for the first time since he returned to Phoenix for his second stint. Nash and the Suns opened the with a series of strong performances, going 8–1 in their first nine games (a franchise-best since ), with Nash producing two 20-assists games. On 21 January 2010, Nash was named as the starting point guard for the West for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. With him operating at the point, the Suns were the highest-scoring team in the league for the fifth season in a row, and were seeded third in the conference for the 2010 playoffs with 54 wins. Behind solid performances by Richardson and veteran Grant Hill, the Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 4–2 in the first round of the playoffs, and swept the Spurs 4–0 in the second round. The Suns met the defending champions, Los Angeles Lakers, in the Conference Finals. After losing the first two games, Phoenix won the next two to tie the series. A Ron Artest buzzer-beater in Game 5 pushed the Lakers one game closer to the Finals, and Kobe Bryant's 37 points in Game 6 completed the defeat of the Suns. The Suns underwent two major roster changes in the . During the pre-season, Stoudemire left for New York, while longtime teammate Leandro Barbosa was traded for Hedo Türkoğlu. Josh Childress, and Hakim Warrick were also recruited to join the Suns. Not long after the season began, Türkoğlu, Richardson, and Earl Clark were traded to Orlando for Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, and Mickaël Piétrus, while rising star Goran Dragić was traded to the Houston Rockets for Aaron Brooks. The Suns had difficulty being even a .500 team, and for the second time since Nash returned to Phoenix, the Suns failed to make the 2011 playoffs. In February 2012, Nash was named to his eighth All-Star Game. At the time, he was leading the NBA in assists per game. On 21 April 2012, Nash passed Oscar Robertson for career assists versus the Denver Nuggets. Despite his stellar play the Suns missed the 2012 playoffs for the second consecutive time. He finished the season averaging 12.5 points and 10.7 assists per game on 53.2% shooting from the field (tying his career high).