• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Suns take on Clippers in the desert

Nov 26, 2010 - 3:54 PM Sports Network) - The Phoenix Suns will conclude a brief two-game homestand tonight by entertaining a Los Angeles Clippers club riding its first winning streak of the season at US Airways Center.

Extending a modest two-game spurt tonight may be tough for the Clippers, however, since the team is 0-7 on the road this season and has lost eight straight to Phoenix.

The Suns dropped the opener of their quick residency on Wednesday, a tough double-overtime setback to the Chicago Bulls. Derrick Rose scored 35 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out seven assists in that one as Chicago notched a hard-fought 123-115 win.

Grant Hill led six Suns in double-figures with a season-high 27 points, though Phoenix lost for the fourth time in five games overall and is off to the worst 15-game start (7-8) since 2003-04. Hakim Warrick had 23 points off the bench, while Steve Nash provided 14 points and 16 assists.

Jason Richardson, Channing Frye and Hedo Turkoglu had 20, 16 and 10 points, respectively, in defeat. Turkoglu also had 10 boards.

"I thought we played well in the first quarter but we're not doing the little things that help to extend leads," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "You have to play the whole 48 minutes, especially against teams that are going to compete."

The Clippers, meanwhile, won their second straight game on Thanksgiving Day when Rookie of the Year hopeful Blake Griffin posted 25 points and 15 rebounds to help Los Angeles take a 100-82 win over Sacramento at Staples Center.

Eric Gordon scored 28 points for the Clippers, who were coming off Monday's win against New Orleans and improved to 3-13 this season. Los Angeles' only other win outside of this two-game streak is a Nov. 3 defeat of Oklahoma City.

"We did a better job on the glass," said Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro. "We still had too many turnovers [17], but it's a win and we'll take it."

Phoenix has also won six straight over the Clips in the desert and 11 of the last 12 overall meetings in the series.