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Trail Blazers-Suns Preview

Mar 20, 2010 - 6:18 PM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Portland (42-28) at Phoenix (43-26), 10:30 p.m. EDT

For as well as the Phoenix Suns have played of late, the Portland Trail Blazers have been a little better.

The visiting Trail Blazers look to match a season high with their sixth straight win Sunday night while trying for a fifth consecutive victory over the Suns and a sweep of the season series for the first time in 11 years.

After enduring a 5-8 stretch from late January into February, Portland (42-28) has won 10 of 12 to solidify itself as a playoff contender in the Western Conference. Though the Trail Blazers are in eighth place, they're 1 1/2 games behind fifth-place Oklahoma City and sixth-place Phoenix, which is a game out of the fourth spot.

"Every game now down the stretch is important - especially when you play teams that are in the playoff picture in the Western Conference - it's going to be huge," Phoenix star Amare Stoudemire told the Suns' official Web site.

The Suns (43-26) have won three in a row and 11 of 14, but haven't beaten the Trail Blazers since Nov. 22, 2008. Portland's won both meetings this season, including 108-101 at Phoenix on Feb. 10 to snap a nine-game road losing streak to the Suns. The Trail Blazers haven't swept a season series from Phoenix since 1998-99.

A hamstring injury kept Portland's Brandon Roy out of the teams' last meeting in Phoenix, but the All-Star is averaging 30.2 points in his last five games against the Suns.

With his team playing for the first time in five days, Roy overcame a difficult shooting night to hit a 22-footer with 0.9 seconds left to give Portland a 76-74 home win over Washington on Friday. Roy finished with 14 points on 4 of 18 shooting as the Trail Blazers shot 32.1 percent, the lowest percentage in a victory in franchise history.

The Trail Blazers, however, held an opponent to fewer than 100 points for the 49th time this season. Portland leads the West, giving up 94.9 points per contest.

"Maybe the four days off had something to do with our shots, but I don't think it had anything to do with our legs," Roy told the Blazers' official Web site. "Hopefully we'll play much better against Phoenix."

Portland couldn't have played much better in its February visit to Phoenix. The Trail Blazers shot a road-high 58.4 percent, the highest percentage allowed by the Suns this season.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who head into this contest winners of two in a row and seven of nine on the road.

Phoenix, however, has won three straight at home and improved to 4-2 on a season-high seven-game homestand with a 110-100 win over Utah on Friday.

Stoudemire continued his strong play, scoring a season-high 44 points as the Suns shot 52.7 percent. Phoenix is shooting 55.5 percent and averaging 127.3 points during its three-game winning streak. Stoudemire, who has eight 30-point games since the All-Star break, is averaging 32.0 on 61.0 percent shooting in his last seven contests.

"It's a beautiful thing for us when we have someone who can dominate like that inside," guard Steve Nash said. "He's playing with so much heart and passion for the game, its great to see."

Stoudemire's averaging 25.5 points and 10.0 rebounds against the Trail Blazers this season.