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Nets-Suns Preview

Jan 19, 2010 - 7:24 PM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

New Jersey (3-37) at Phoenix (24-18), 9:00 p.m. EDT

The Phoenix Suns have hardly been dominant in home games since winning their first 10, but after a brutal road trip, they'll be thrilled to get back to Arizona.

They should be especially pleased to see the New Jersey Nets waiting for them.

Phoenix gets a great chance to halt its longest losing streak of the season with a visit from the Nets, who will hit the season's halfway point Wednesday night on pace for the worst record in league history.

The Suns (24-18) were 14-3 at the end of November, but are 10-15 since and have lost 11 of 12 on the road following a winless four-game trip. That swing started with a blown 24-point lead at Indiana - the third 20-point cushion they squandered in five games - before a one-point loss at Atlanta on Jamal Crawford's 3-pointer at the buzzer Friday and a 125-99 drubbing Saturday in Charlotte.

Hoping for a spark, coach Alvin Gentry threw Robin Lopez into the starting lineup Monday at Memphis, and the second-year center played well, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocks before fouling out. In the end, though, a shortage of defensive stops was again the difference in a 125-118 loss.

"We had a great stretch in November. We also knew that we didn't have the talent to expect to just keep rolling through the league like that," said Steve Nash, who had at least six turnovers for the sixth time in nine games. "To be honest, we've had a lot of open looks that we haven't knocked down. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and see if we can play better."

The Suns shot 49.0 percent against Memphis, slightly above their league-leading season average, but fell to 7-15 when they're held under 50.0.

Phoenix is just 5-4 at home since outscoring teams by an average of 14.1 points during a 10-0 start at US Airways Center.

A visit from the Nets (3-37) isn't much cause for alarm, even though New Jersey won at Phoenix in the most recent meeting, 117-109 on Nov. 30, 2008, behind Devin Harris' career-high 47 points. The Nets ended a 14-game skid in Phoenix, posting their second win in the last 11 matchups overall.

Amare Stoudemire has averaged 28.6 points in his last five home games against New Jersey.

One bit of intrigue for this contest will be Robin Lopez starting for the first time against brother Brook, the Nets' leading scorer (18.9 points per game) and rebounder (9.5 per game).

New Jersey has been outscored by an average of 15.8 points during its current eight-game losing streak. Even with a win Wednesday, the Nets would reach the midway point of their season on pace to finish with the most losses in NBA history - the record is held by the 1972-73 76ers, who went 9-73.

The Nets are coming off Monday's 106-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, dropping to 3-20 since general manager Kiki Vandeweghe became coach after firing Lawrence Frank.

"There's no way to describe it, except that we're in a dark tunnel," Vandeweghe said. "There's no question it was a tough situation to come into, and there's no sugarcoating it. But you have to stay positive. Being negative does not help."

Perhaps another strong performance from Kris Humphries can boost the Nets. Acquired from Dallas last week, Humphries has averaged 18.0 points in his past two games.