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Warriors-Suns Preview

Jan 23, 2010 - 7:42 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Golden State (13-28) at Phoenix (25-19), 9:00 p.m. EDT

When the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors meet, defense is typically an afterthought. When the game takes place in Phoenix, it also usually means the Suns end up winning.

In Saturday night's meeting at the US Airways Center, Phoenix looks to win its 10th straight home game over the Warriors, who expect to be without leading scorer Monta Ellis.

Both the Suns (25-19) and Golden State (13-28) love to push the ball up the court. Phoenix ranks first in the NBA in scoring with an average of 109.7 points, while the Warriors' 107.8 average ranks second. When these Pacific Division rivals square off, they tend to score even more.

The Suns have taken six of 10 meetings in this series since the start of 2007-08, scoring an average of 122.5 points to Golden State's 118.5.

In Phoenix on Oct. 30, the Warriors' offense came out relatively sluggish and the Suns won 123-101. In the rematch at Golden State on Dec. 26, the Warriors shot 57.1 percent en route to a 132-127 win.

Golden State snapped a four-game losing streak to the Suns with that victory, but has dropped nine straight in Phoenix since a 110-100 victory March 18, 2005. Since the start of the 1995-96 season, the Suns have taken 26 of 29 home matchups with the Warriors.

Ellis, who had 33 points and 10 assists in the win over the Suns last month and ranks sixth in the league with 26.1 points per game, left Friday's 111-79 home win over New Jersey with a right ankle injury. X-rays were negative, but he didn't accompany the team on its plane to Phoenix.

Although Ellis finished with a season-low four points, Golden State didn't seem to miss him much against the league-worst Nets. Rookie Stephen Curry had a career-high 32 points, while Corey Maggette added 29.

Curry, the seventh pick of the 2009 draft, is averaging 22.8 points in his last four games. Coach Don Nelson hopes the rookie can fill the void left by Ellis and direct the offense.

"He's comfortable (but) what I need him to do is use his voice more as a point guard and convey direction," Nelson said. "He's a rookie so that's probably not too easy for him right now but eventually I need him to pass the information."

Nelson will also be counting on Maggette to continue his recent surge. In his last nine games, Maggette is averaging 30.0 points - 9.4 better than his season average. He had 33 while shooting 13 of 17 from the field against the Suns last month.

Phoenix suffered just its fifth defeat in 21 home games Friday night, falling 115-104 to Chicago. The Suns' offense never got in sync, shooting 38.5 percent while losing for the fifth time in six games overall.

Steve Nash - selected to his seventh All-Star Game on Thursday - had a particularly tough night, finishing with eight points on 4-of-12 shooting. He's fared well against the Warriors this season, averaging 27.0 points and 14.5 assists.

Phoenix's other All-Star, center Amare Stoudemire, had one of his worst games of the season at Golden State last month. The five-time All-Star finished with nine points before fouling out, just one of two times in 2009-10 he has failed to score in double figures.