 Phoenix Suns |
|
 Toronto Raptors |
| 14-4 | 10-8 | |
| 5:00 PM Mountain / 7:00 PM Eastern | ||
| TV: My45 HD, NBA League Pass | ||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Steve Nash | PG | Jose Calderon |
| Raja Bell | SG | Anthony Parker |
| Grant Hill | SF | Joey Graham |
| Shawn Marion | PF | Jamario Moon |
| Amare Stoudemire | C | Rasho Nesterovic |
The Suns continue their five-game road trip tonight against the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are coming off of a win over the Charlotte Bobcats, despite having three starters out with injuries (Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, and T.J. Ford). They'll have Ford back for this game, but Bargnani and Bosh are expected to remain out according to the Raptor's web site. They'll also be coming in more rested than the Suns, who are on the second of a back-to-back with last night's game going down to the wire. But there's a huge difference in playing the Bobcats and playing the Suns, who have won their last two back-to-back closers after dropping the first two in early November. And with Steve Nash making his only appearance in his home country this season, you know he's going to be up for this one. The Suns swept both meetings with the Raptors last season, but the one in Toronto was a two-point squeaker--which the Suns are getting pretty good at these days.
For more about the game from the Raptors' perspective (including several players' thoughts), see the Raptors.com link mentioned above. Here are the Suns setting the first of two franchise-high winning streaks last season:
Update from Paul Coro's blog: Jose Calderon will be starting and T.J. Ford will come in off the bench. Probable starting lineups have been edited accordingly.