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Rockets aim to improve playoff positioning vs. Suns

Mar 31, 2009 - 9:46 PM By Dan Pieringer Stats Writer

Houston (48-26) at Phoenix (40-34) 10:00 p.m. EDT

PHOENIX (AP) -- The Houston Rockets' playoff seeding depends heavily on how the team fares during a daunting stretch of schedule before the postseason.

There's even more at stake for the Phoenix Suns in the regular season's final two weeks.

The Rockets continue their battle for playoff position in the tightly packed Western Conference race Wednesday night when they visit the Suns, who are hoping to rebound from a winless road trip and improve their fading postseason chances.

Houston (48-26) has clinched a playoff spot but could finish anywhere from second to eighth place in the West. Its seed will be determined in large part by how the Rockets deal with a tough finish to the season. Of their final eight games, five are on the road and five are against teams currently in playoff position - not including the ninth-place Suns.

"That will be a very good test for us," Rockets center Yao Ming said after the team cruised to a 110-93 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night. "How tough can we be in the playoffs? Obviously, a playoff team is much tougher than tonight."

Before visiting the West-leading Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, the Rockets begin their challenging stretch run with a game at Phoenix (40-34), which hasn't given up on pulling back into the playoff picture despite missing some big opportunities to make a move over the last week.

Phoenix took a season-high six-game winning streak into a three-game road trip but returns home riding a three-game skid. It opened the trip with losses to West contenders Portland and Utah before falling 126-118 to conference-worst Sacramento on Sunday night.

"There's some emotional hangover (from an overtime loss in Utah) and we're tired, but we've still got to dig down and find a way to get it done," Suns point guard Steve Nash said. "No disrespect for that young team, but we weren't playing the Lakers or the Celtics. We laid an egg, it was very frustrating."

Nash probably won't be as confident going into this meeting with Houston. The Rockets led by as much as 19 in a 94-82 win in Phoenix on November 12, then outlasted the Suns 116-112 in Houston on March 6.

Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks has averaged 24.5 points while shooting 57.6 percent (19-for-33) in those games. He had a career-high 30 points and drove past Suns center Shaquille O'Neal for the go-ahead layup with 7.3 seconds remaining in the teams' last meeting.

Brooks scored 21 points Saturday as the Rockets shot 52.4 percent while recording 22 assists on 43 field goals. Forward Shane Battier, however, still sees plenty of room for improvement down the stretch.

"It's a work in progress," Battier said. "We tried some of the things tonight, but it wasn't that sharp. We scored anyway, but against the playoff teams, we're really going to have to tighten up our execution."

The Suns' offensive execution was solid Sunday, but their lackadaisical defense let Sacramento record its second-highest point total of the season with seven players scoring in double figures.

"We were playing for a lot tonight and we didn't show that with attitude or desperation," said Nash, who had 31 points and 14 assists. "... It's not over yet, but we can look back on this if we don't make (the playoffs)."

Nash, who averaged 20.7 points in 15 games in March, scored a season-high 32 with 13 assists in his last game against Houston. Phoenix is 0-4 this season when he scores more than 25.