Portland Trail Blazers (42-28) at Phoenix Suns (43-26), 10:30 p.m.
The Portland Trail Blazers are heating up at the right moment and will try for their sixth straight win tonight, when they take a trip to the desert to face the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center.
Portland is currently seated in the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference -- just a half-game behind No. 7 San Antonio -- and made it five consecutive wins with Friday's 76-74 home victory versus the Washington Wizards at the Rose Garden. Brandon Roy's leaner from just inside the three- point line with 0.9 seconds lifted the Blazers, as he ended with 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting.
"I was just thinking 'finally,'" Roy said of his big shot. "I took a lot of shots tonight. The majority of them felt good, a couple of them felt like I was a little off balance but I was just laughing, you know, finally, I made a shot. It was the one to help us win an important game for us."
LaMarcus Aldridge chipped in 19 points and grabbed 12 boards for Portland, which got 14 points from Andre Miller and held on for the win despite shooting 32.1 percent from the floor. The 32.1 percent was the lowest shooting mark in a win in franchise history, eclipsing the 33.0 percent clip on November 3, 1990 at Sacramento.
Aldridge is averaging 19.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in his last 32 games, while Miller is posting 16.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.33 steals since January 2. Portland is 19-15 away from the Rose City this season.
Meanwhile, the Suns are playing just as well and have won three straight and 11 of their last 14 games. They improved to 4-2 on a seven-game homestand following Friday's 110-100 victory versus the Utah Jazz thanks to a season- high 44 points and seven rebounds from Amare Stoudemire.
"I wanted to come out with great focus on both ends and try to spark some energy out there and try to dominate," said Stoudemire. "I think tonight as a team we did a great job of that -- we all played particularly well, and if we keep this effort up and keep playing the way we are, we'll be in good shape."
Robin Lopez added 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Steve Nash posted 15 points and 10 assists in a winning cause. Phoenix is 27-9 in the desert this season and is tied with Oklahoma City for the fifth seed in the conference standings.
The Blazers have won the first two meetings with Phoenix in 2009-10, and are aiming for their first season sweep of the Suns since the 1998-99 campaign. Portland has won four straight after losing the last 11 meetings against the Suns, who have won nine of 10 as the host in this series.
Portland has scored at least 100 points in each of the last 12 road contests, the league's longest streak this season and the team's longest such run since February 21 - April 21, 1991 (18 games). The Trail Blazers have won 42 straight games when holding their opponents to 88 points or fewer, including a 19-0 mark this year.
The Portland Trail Blazers are heating up at the right moment and will try for their sixth straight win tonight, when they take a trip to the desert to face the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center.
Portland is currently seated in the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference -- just a half-game behind No. 7 San Antonio -- and made it five consecutive wins with Friday's 76-74 home victory versus the Washington Wizards at the Rose Garden. Brandon Roy's leaner from just inside the three- point line with 0.9 seconds lifted the Blazers, as he ended with 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting.
"I was just thinking 'finally,'" Roy said of his big shot. "I took a lot of shots tonight. The majority of them felt good, a couple of them felt like I was a little off balance but I was just laughing, you know, finally, I made a shot. It was the one to help us win an important game for us."
LaMarcus Aldridge chipped in 19 points and grabbed 12 boards for Portland, which got 14 points from Andre Miller and held on for the win despite shooting 32.1 percent from the floor. The 32.1 percent was the lowest shooting mark in a win in franchise history, eclipsing the 33.0 percent clip on November 3, 1990 at Sacramento.
Aldridge is averaging 19.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in his last 32 games, while Miller is posting 16.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.33 steals since January 2. Portland is 19-15 away from the Rose City this season.
Meanwhile, the Suns are playing just as well and have won three straight and 11 of their last 14 games. They improved to 4-2 on a seven-game homestand following Friday's 110-100 victory versus the Utah Jazz thanks to a season- high 44 points and seven rebounds from Amare Stoudemire.
"I wanted to come out with great focus on both ends and try to spark some energy out there and try to dominate," said Stoudemire. "I think tonight as a team we did a great job of that -- we all played particularly well, and if we keep this effort up and keep playing the way we are, we'll be in good shape."
Robin Lopez added 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Steve Nash posted 15 points and 10 assists in a winning cause. Phoenix is 27-9 in the desert this season and is tied with Oklahoma City for the fifth seed in the conference standings.
The Blazers have won the first two meetings with Phoenix in 2009-10, and are aiming for their first season sweep of the Suns since the 1998-99 campaign. Portland has won four straight after losing the last 11 meetings against the Suns, who have won nine of 10 as the host in this series.
Portland has scored at least 100 points in each of the last 12 road contests, the league's longest streak this season and the team's longest such run since February 21 - April 21, 1991 (18 games). The Trail Blazers have won 42 straight games when holding their opponents to 88 points or fewer, including a 19-0 mark this year.
