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Suns chase season sweep of Kings

Mar 15, 2008 - 2:13 PM Sacramento (29-35) at Phoenix (43-22) 10:00 pm EDT

PHOENIX (Ticker) - Shortly after adding Shaquille O'Neal to their lineup, the Phoenix Suns struggled to win. Lately, they are having more success with him playing limited minutes.

The Suns target a season sweep of a Pacific Division rival on Saturday when they host the Sacramento Kings.

Phoenix is looking to win four consecutive games for the first time since January 18-22 following its 123-115 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. After going 3-6 in O'Neal's first nine games, the Suns have turned things around.

O'Neal, a 14-time All-Star, played sparingly in a 132-111 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, finishing with nine points and four rebounds in only 14 minutes because of foul trouble.

However, Amare Stoudemire picked him up with 36 points and 11 rebounds while Steve Nash had 21 points and 13 assists.

The Suns have won eight of its last nine against Sacramento, but has not completed a sweep of the Kings since 1999-2000.

Sacramento won its third straight game on Thursday, 96-85, over the Portland Trail Blazers. Ron Artest had 22 points while Brad Miller and Beno Udrih each added 14 points.