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Suns eyeing sixth straight win

Mar 25, 2009 - 6:33 AM By Brett Huston Stats Writer

Utah (44-26) at Phoenix (39-31) 10:30 p.m. EDT

PHOENIX (AP) -- When the Phoenix Suns lost six straight games earlier this month, they didn't appear to have any chance of making the playoffs.

It turns out the Suns aren't quite ready to go away.

Phoenix seeks its sixth win in a row Wednesday night when it hosts the Utah Jazz, who haven't beaten a Western Conference rival with a winning record on the road all season.

The Suns dropped six full games behind Dallas for the West's eighth playoff spot after falling 119-111 at home to Cleveland on March 12, their sixth consecutive loss.

Still, Phoenix, which has been a part of the last four postseasons, hasn't given up hope of extending that streak to five. The Suns have averaged 126.4 points while winning their last five games by an average of 16.0 points.

Their only closely-contested win during the streak came Monday, when they had to rally from a late four-point deficit to beat visiting Denver, 118-115.

"We can always play like that when we are focused and playing the right way," said Shaquille O'Neal, who's averaging 19.2 points on 66.1 percent shooting during the winning streak. "We have to rely on the teams ahead of us to falter. We have to keep fighting and see what happens."

Phoenix plays six of its next eight games against teams ahead of it in the West - including a critical meeting with the Mavericks in Dallas on April 5.

Starting that stretch out by hosting Utah shouldn't be too intimidating. The Jazz have one of the league's best home records, but they're 14-20 on the road.

Only one of those wins came against a team that currently owns a winning record - a 93-80 victory in Philadelphia on November 11. Utah has been especially dreadful when facing its competitors in the playoff hunt, going 0-8 on the road against the top nine teams in the West.

One of those losses came in Phoenix on December 6, when Leandro Barbosa scored a game-high 25 points off the bench in a 106-104 Suns victory.

The Jazz, though, have been nearly unbeatable against West contenders at EnergySolutions Arena. They won their 13th in a row in their own building Tuesday night, running their home record against the conference's top nine teams to 12-1 - a November win over Phoenix included - by holding Houston to 34.8 percent shooting in a 99-86 victory.

"That shows how we were playing good help defense," said Utah guard Ronnie Brewer, who had 17 points. "We really defended well tonight."

Utah has been a different team since Carlos Boozer returned to the lineup after missing 44 games due to a leg injury, going 10-3 with the two-time All-Star forward back in action.

While Boozer should be able to thrive against Phoenix with Amare Stoudemire out, the key to Wednesday's outcome could come down to the matchup between centers O'Neal and Mehmet Okur.

The Jazz are 26-6 when Okur scores at least 19 points, something he hasn't done in his past six games. Okur had 12 points and 13 rebounds in the loss at Phoenix in December, while O'Neal had 15 points and 10 boards in just 23 minutes.

Utah and its defensive stopper Brewer, meanwhile, will want to keep an eye on Jason Richardson. The Suns' starting shooting guard is averaging 28.3 points in his last four games.

The Jazz have won three of their past five visits to Phoenix.