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Nuggets visit Suns in key Western Conference matchup

Mar 10, 2011 - 3:42 PM (Sports Network) - A key Western Conference matchup will take place in the desert on Thursday when the Denver Nuggets visit the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns have traditionally owned Denver in the Valley of the Sun, taking 12 straight over the Nuggets. However, the last time these two teams met, Denver destroyed the Suns in the Rockies, 132-98, Phoenix's worst defeat in nearly five years.

Currently the Nuggets are deadlocked with Portland for the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoff hunt while the Suns, after going 7-3 in their last 10 games, are back in the postseason conversation, holding down the ninth spot just one game behind Memphis.

Most recently Phoenix got the best of Houston on Tuesday when Hakim Warrick, getting major minutes in the place of the injured Channing Frye, finished with a career-high 32 points to go with eight rebounds, as the Suns held on to top the Rockets, 113-110, at US Airways Center.

Vince Carter poured in 32 points, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, with six caroms for Phoenix, which got 14 assists and nine points from Steve Nash. Grant Hill supplied 19 points and Marcin Gortat posted a game-high 16 rebounds with 13 points in a reserve role for the Suns, who have won two of three and began a three-game homestand with the win.

"I thought we did a great job. I thought we played throughout," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "We didn't get to some balls early on in the game that I thought they beat us to, but I thought in the second half we did just about everything we needed to do."

Frye, who dislocated his right shoulder against in Oklahoma City on Sunday, is expected to miss two-to-three weeks of action.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, lost for the first time in four games on Saturday in LA when Eric Bledsoe scored 20 points off the bench and Blake Griffin finished one assist shy of his first triple-double, leading the Clippers to a 100-94 victory over Denver.

Nene had a double-double before halftime for Denver and finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, but the Nuggets shot just 39 percent and fell to 5-2 since the blockbuster trade that sent Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to New York. Guard Arron Afflalo missed the second half with a strained hamstring.

Nuggets head coach George Karl said he couldn't complain with how hard his team played in coming back from several large deficits. They just couldn't make it all the way back.

"We fought back in that game four or five times," said Karl. "But when Arron went down, we needed someone to seize the opportunity and we just never shot well from the perimeter and didn't get to the free throw line the way we do."

Despite the loss the Nuggets agreed to a multi-year contract extension with Karl on Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Denver Post reported it is for three years.

Karl has been the Nuggets' head coach since January 27, 2005, and keeping him with the team was one of the organization's top priorities, said Masai Ujiri, vice president of basketball operations.

"He's done a tremendous job since arriving in Denver, and particularly with the unique challenges of this season," Ujiri said. "With George on the bench, we have a bright future and everyone here is focused on finishing the season strong."

The Nuggets are 37-27 and currently in line to make the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season under Karl, who eclipsed 1,000 career wins this season after overcoming neck and throat cancer. The 59-year-old is in his 23rd season as an NBA head coach and holds a 1,023-698 career record.

"I've always said Denver is the place I want to end my career," Karl said. "This puts me one step closer to achieving that goal. Masai Ujiri and [president] Josh Kroenke were very professional throughout these negotiations."