Trail Blazers at Suns
The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the hottest teams in the NBA and seek to stretch their longest winning streak in nearly six years when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Portland has won 11 straight games, its best streak since winning 13 in a row during December of the 2007-08 season. But the Trail Blazers traditionally struggle in Phoenix as the Suns have won 21 of the last 25 meetings on their home floor.
The teams split two meetings earlier this season with Phoenix winning 104-91 on Oct. 30 and Portland needing to rally for a 90-89 victory on Damian Lillard’s basket with 6.5 seconds left Nov. 13. The Suns will likely be without speedy guard Eric Bledsoe (shin) for the fifth straight game and are coming off a 107-92 loss to Miami on Monday. The Trail Blazers defeated the New York Knicks on Monday and haven’t lost since falling to Houston on Nov. 5.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (13-2): Two-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge and reigning Rookie of the Year Lillard receive most of the credit for Portland’s strong start but Wesley Matthews also has played a huge role. Matthews is averaging 17.3 points while shooting a sizzling 55.6 percent from the field – the best mark in the league for a guard – and is making 50.6 percent of his 3-point shots. Matthews is averaging 21.4 points and shooting 58.6 percent over the past five games.
ABOUT THE SUNS (7-7): Guard Goran Dragic has excelled as a floor leader the past two games with 22 assists against just one turnover. Dragic and Bledsoe have jointly performed the ball-handling duties and that has allowed Dragic to put more emphasis on scoring and he’s averaging a career-best 16.2 points. “He’s one of the better point guards in the league – certainly in the top half,” Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said. “A lot of his turnovers this year have come from him not getting rid of the ball fast enough so we told him to get rid of the ball quicker.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Phoenix has won six of the past nine meetings.
2. Trail Blazers G Mo Williams returns after a one-game suspension due to his actions during a scuffle against Golden State on Saturday.
3. Suns F Channing Frye is averaging 16.7 points over the last three games while making 11 3-pointers.