Suns at Grizzlies
No one seems to believe the Phoenix Suns can keep up their surprising start except the Suns themselves, who look to move a season-high nine games above .500 when they take on the Grizzlies on Friday in Memphis. The Suns, who have alternated wins and losses in their first four games of the new year after closing 2013 by winning 10 of 12, remain in seventh place in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies have won the first two meetings this season including a 99-91 triumph in Phoenix on Jan. 2.
Gerald Green hit the game-winner with 3.9 seconds left to cap a 7-0 run in the final 1:51 and lift Phoenix to a 104-103 win at Minnesota on Wednesday. "We just have confidence in each other and I think we just want to continue to play our way of basketball," Suns forward Channing Frye told reporters. Memphis has alternated wins and losses in its last eight contests and is coming off a 110-108 overtime loss to San Antonio.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), SportSouth (Memphis)
ABOUT THE SUNS (21-13): Phoenix does a good bit of its scoring in transition or from 3-point range, though missing guard Eric Bledsoe (18 points, 5.8 assists) because of a knee injury hurts in both regards. Green (13.4 points) and leading scorer Goran Dragic (19.1 points, 5.9 assists) have to pick up the slack with Bledsoe sidelined. Dragic has obliged, topping 20 points in five of the past six games - including a career-high 33 against Memphis last week - and is averaging 23.7 points and 6.2 assists during that stretch.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (15-19): Memphis has struggled to keep pace in the Western Conference without defensive stalwart Marc Gasol (knee) in the middle, but the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year has been cleared for light practice and should be back soon. The Grizzlies are still within striking distance of the playoffs - four games behind eighth-place Dallas - thanks to Mike Conley (17.6 points, 6.3 assists) and Zach Randolph (17.1 points, 10.4 rebounds). The bench is improving, as reserve forward Jon Leuer has scored in double digits in three straight games and Courtney Lee scored 12 in his first game since being acquired from Boston.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Frye is 20-for-39 from 3-point range over the past five games and is shooting a team-high 42.8 percent from behind the arc for the season.
2. Randolph has 21 double-doubles including 18 in his past 25 games.
3. Phoenix signed G Leandro Barbosa to a 10-day contract Wednesday and the veteran had three points and three assists in 13 minutes in his first game since suffering a season-ending knee injury Feb. 11.