Suns stay hot with win over Portland, 111-98

PORTLAND, ORE. - When the Suns came here exactly two weeks ago, Shaquille O’Neal was still out of shape, dealing with physical problems and feeling his way with his new team.

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But with each passing day and game, Shaq is looking healthier and more like his old dominant self — and the Suns are learning to play both with and without him with equal effectiveness.

Or, to use Steve Nash parlance: Training camp is just about over.

O’Neal produced 16 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, and Phoenix’s smaller lineup dominated the Blazers as the Suns kept rolling with a 111-98 win at the Rose Garden on Tuesday.

The Suns have now won five straight games for the first time in 2008. It matches their second-longest winning streak of the year, and the last such run ended way back on Dec. 7 — the 18th game of the season. More importantly, Phoenix moved within a game of the Western Conference lead — shared by Los Angeles, which won Tuesday against Dallas, and Houston, which had its 22-game winning streak snapped by Boston. The Suns are a half-game behind third-place New Orleans.

“Everyone contributed, everyone had spurts of good basketball and when it got messy, the big guy cleaned things up,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I thought we played pretty well from beginning to end. Shaq’s a big difference in there.”

Amaré Stoudemire led the Suns with 25 points and Nash had 22, including four of Phoenix’s 10 3-pointers.

The Blazers, who have lost to Phoenix seven straight times, probably played better than they did in a 97-92 loss here to the Suns on March 4 — except for star Brandon Roy, who was held to just six points on 3-for-14 shooting by Suns guard Raja Bell.

Phoenix now has its offense humming and its rotation in sync — and O’Neal is in the middle of it all.

“If anyone thinks that guy doesn’t have anything left, just hand out copies of that tape,” said Grant Hill, who had 11 points and made five of his seven shots despite playing with a bruised wrist. “Hopefully, people will learn not to get him upset. You don’t want to wake a sleeping giant.”

A fourth-quarter scrape with Portland center/Shaq-disturber Joel Przybilla just made O’Neal more determined. After the two exchanged words all the way down the floor and had to be separated twice, O’Neal put down a 7-footer over Przybilla, consumed Jarrett Jack on a drive to the basket and hit a streaking Boris Diaw in stride for a dunk and an 18-point Phoenix lead.

“They look like they’re jelling,” Przybilla said. “They are playing like the team they were talking about they were going to be. Shaq? I haven’t seen him move that well in a long time. I know he’s getting ready for the playoffs.”

The Suns are hitting on all cylinders — they are shooting 55.3 percent from the field during the winning streak, and the defense is holding opponents to 42 percent on the other end.

Six Suns had at least 11 points and five had at least one 3-pointer.

“We now have a little swagger and we expect good things to happen,” D’Antoni said.

Suns spots
Did you see that? The Blazers are 23-10 at home this season but have lost twice at home to the Suns in the last 14 days.

Player of the game: In a good team game on several fronts, Shaquille O’Neal was the fulcrum with 16 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and even a friendly handshake for Portland owner Paul Allen after being fouled in the fourth quarter.

Unsung hero: Raja Bell had only eight points but did a great job defensively on Portland’s Brandon Roy, who had 25 against Phoenix two weeks ago but managed only six points Tuesday on 3-for-14 shooting.

Thumbs up: Phoenix’s small lineup (Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa) extended the lead in each half. Diaw did a great job in the post, finding the open man when he was double-teamed and taking the ball to the rim when the defense backed off.

Thumbs down: Hard to argue with a five-game winning streak. Can the Suns dial it up on back-to-back nights in Seattle against the lowly Sonics? Lately, that’s been a problem.

Suns at Sonics
When: 7 p.m. today
Where: Key Arena, Seattle
TV: KUTP (Ch. 45)
Radio: KTAR (620 AM)
Records: Suns 45-22, Sonics 16-51

Series history: The Suns lead the overall series 114-85 and have won 10 of the last 14 meetings and four straight, including all three this season. And while they are looking for their first sweep of Seattle since 1998-99, the Sonics have been in every game. Phoenix hasn’t visited Seattle since opening the season with a 106-99 win on Nov. 1. The Suns also won in Phoenix on Jan. 3 (104-96) and Feb. 8 (103-99). Amaré Stoudemire has averaged 33.5 points in the last two games against Seattle. Kevin Durant scored 27 and 28 points in his first two games against the Suns but was shut down by Raja Bell in the last meeting.

Scouting report: Sonics – How do you rebound from giving up 168 points in a game? The Sonics are about to find out after being destroyed 168-116 in Denver on Sunday, as a defense that gives up 106.2 points a game was picked apart by the Nuggets. Seattle has now lost eight in a row and is now in last place in the Western Conference — only Miami is worse in the league. The Sonics have only won 10 of 32 home games, and attendance is dropping amid news that the team is likely headed elsewhere. Other than that, things are fine.

Suns – Phoenix has struggled badly in back-to-backs this season. Almost a third of their 22 losses have come in this situation (6-7 this year). On the road, the Suns have lost five straight back-to-backs — Minnesota (Dec.8), Utah (Jan. 10), Minnesota again (Jan. 23), New Orleans (Feb. 27) and Denver (March 5). The last time they won a road game in a back-to-back situation was Dec. 4-5, when they won in Indiana and Toronto.