San Antonio Spurs (12-9) at Phoenix Suns (16-8), 9 p.m.
Sports Network | December 15, 2009
(Sports Network) - The Phoenix Suns hope to remain the NBA's only perfect team at home tonight when Alvin Gentry's team welcomes San Antonio to the desert.
The Suns are a sterling 8-0 at US Airways Center but an early season schedule heavy on road games has started to wear on the team. Phoenix dropped its fifth straight game as the visitor on Saturday in Denver when Carmelo Anthony scored 20 of his game-high 32 points in the second half and the Nuggets rallied from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter to post a 105-99 victory over the Suns.
Steve Nash notched 28 points and seven assists, but no foul was called on his drive to the hoop in the closing seconds with the Suns down by a 101-99 count. That frustrated Gentry to the point where he was given a pair of technical fouls with two seconds left.
Anthony hit both technical shots and two more at the charity stripe to seal the victory.
Grant Hill and Amare Stoudemire each chipped in 13 points for Phoenix, which has dropped five of its last seven contests overall. The Suns had 21 turnovers, leading to 31 Denver points.
"You can't turn the ball over," said Gentry. "That's a third of their points almost."
The Suns, who average a stunning 116.5 points per game at home, will follow this contest with a trip to Portland on Thursday and then play 10 of 12 games in the desert.
The Spurs, meanwhile, have righted the ship a bit, winning their third straight contest with a 115-90 decision over the LA Clippers on Sunday. Tim Duncan posted 21 points in that one as San Antonio beat the Clips for a 13th straight time.
Richard Jefferson and Manu Ginobili each chipped in 17 points for the Spurs, who picked up just their second road win in seven tries this season. Rookie DeJuan Blair had 14 points and nine boards for San Antonio, which shot 70 percent in the first half.
"I think there's more of a sense of urgency," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "We've given up a lot of games already. We don't have time now. There are too many good teams."
San Antonio has won three straight over Phoenix.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
