Phoenix Suns (44-26) at Golden State Warriors (19-50), 10:30 p.m.
Sports Network | March 22, 2010
(Sports Network) - Expect a high-flying affair tonight as the NBA's best offensive team meets the league's worst defensive club when the Phoenix Suns visit the hapless Golden State Warriors.
The Suns, who average an NBA-best 109.8 points per game, are coming off a rare nondescript offensive effort on Sunday but did get the win against Portland, the team's fourth in a row.
Amare Stoudemire had 18 points and 14 rebounds in that one, as Phoenix gutted out a 93-87 win against the Blazers despite shooting less than 40 percent from the field.
Steve Nash added 17 points and eight assists and Jason Richardson contributed 16 points as the Suns, who are currently the fifth seed in the Western Conference, capped a 5-2 homestand.
"It was exactly how I thought it would be; It was a real grinded out game," said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. "We had a hard time generating any offense against their defense. I thought [the Trail Blazers] did a great job. They were very active and they took our post passes away from Amare."
Except a far different game against the defensively-challenged Warriors, who allow an NBA-worst 112.2 points per contest.
Golden State is coming off a typical bad defensive effort Saturday in Memphis, where Rudy Gay's 25 points led three Grizzlies with 20 or more and helped his team beat the Warriors, 123-107.
Monta Ellis scored 28 points to the lead the Warriors, who have lost three of their last four overall. Corey Maggette dropped 20 points and Reggie Williams added 15 for Golden State, which gave up 147 in a 31-point loss at San Antonio on Friday.
"The second half was very difficult for us," said Warriors coach Don Nelson of Saturday's game. "We don't have much size anyway and when (Chris) Hunter came up with tendinitis and couldn't play, we had to play with a small team the whole way and got beat on the boards again. [The Grizzlies] got control of inside points. It was a long night."
Phoenix has taken two of three from Golden State this season but lost the lone outing in Oakland, a 132-127 setback in December.
