Suns at Trail Blazers
THE STORY: The Portland Trail Blazers have taken full advantage of the handful of home games they've played so far this month. They'll look to wrap up an impressive home showing in January as they entertain the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. The Trail Blazers have one of the most grueling schedules this month, playing 11 of their 18 games away from Portland. A win Friday would make them 6-1 at home in January, and 10-1 at the Rose Garden Arena this season. Portland is coming off a 101-93 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, a defeat that halted a two-game winning streak. Phoenix is coming off consecutive losses to the Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors, and have dropped seven of nine games. With postseason aspirations quickly slipping away, the Suns' storyline may shift to whether or not the club will consider trading veteran point guard Steve Nash.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Arizona, Comcast SportsNet NorthWest, NBA TV
ABOUT THE SUNS (6-11): Nash was his usual efficient self, recording 17 points and 14 assists, but couldn't prevent the Raptors from ending Phoenix's eight-year winning streak in the head-to-head series. Nash has said in the past that he would not request a trade out of Phoenix, but the Suns may have no other recourse with the 37-year-old set to become a free agent at the end of the season. Nash is averaging 14.5 points and a league-best 10.4 assists so far in 2011-12.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (11-8): Despite being three games above the .500 mark, Portland enters Friday's action fourth out of five teams in the competitive Northwest Division. With just three wins in 10 games away from the Rose Garden, the Blazers know they'll need to be better on the road the rest of the way. "We don't play with the same energy on the road as we do at home," says center Marcus Camby . "We need to dig deep and find it when we're not at home with our fans cheering us on."
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Phoenix won the first meeting between the teams earlier this month, cruising to a 102-77 home victory.
2. Trail Blazers F Gerald Wallace is shooting 63.8 percent from the field at home but connects at just a 30-percent clip away from Portland.