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Suns face Trail Blazers; Nash out with shoulder injury

Feb 6, 2007 - 7:03 PM Phoenix (38-10) at Portland (20-29) 10:00 pm EST

PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) - The high-scoring Phoenix Suns will be without their leader.

With Steve Nash out with an injured right shoulder, the Suns will look to push on without the two-time defending MVP against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.

Nash suffered the injury early in Monday's 113-108 win over Denver. The All-Star point guard had nine points and seven assists in 16 minutes and did not play in the second half.

Having arguably his best season with averages 19.5 points and a league-leading 11.9 assists, Nash is inactive for Tuesday's game. His minutes will be taken by supersub Leandro Barbosa and reserve point guard Marcus Banks.

In the win over Denver, Barbosa had 20 points and four assists and Banks added seven and three.

The Suns (38-10) have the second-best record in the Western Conference, one game behind Dallas. They are just 2-2 since a franchise-record 17-game winning streak.

On Monday, Amare Stoudemire scored 23 of his 36 points in the second half to help Phoenix erase a 60-51 halftime deficit.

Phoenix is 3-0 this season vs. Portland, which has lost five in a row and nine of 10 in the series.

The Trail Blazers are coming off Saturday's 88-86 home setback to the Chicago Bulls, their third loss in four games. Zach Randolph had 27 points and nine rebounds and rookie Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack chipped in 16 points apiece.