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PHOENIX -- The good news for the Portland Trail Blazers is they only face Goran Dragic and the Phoenix Suns one more time. Austin Pettis Jersey . And thats not until spring. Dragic scored 31 points, Channing Frye added 25 and the Suns used their up-tempo style to recover from a poor start and beat Portland 120-106 Wednesday night and snap the Blazers 11-game winning streak. Markieff Morris scored 19 and twin Marcus Morris 15 for the Suns, who wiped out a 16-point second-quarter deficit to hand the Blazers their first loss since Nov. 5 against Houston. Two of Portlands three defeats have come to the Suns, who shot 52 per cent from the field behind the speedy Dragic, who was one point shy of his career-high and added 10 assists. "Im glad we dont have to play Phoenix until April," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts, whose team is 1-2 against the Suns and 12-1 against the rest of the league. "After we got a lead they completely outplayed us. They ran, they rebounded, they played an excellent game. They have played us very well and we will see April 4 if anything changes." LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and Damian Lillard scored 16 points for the Blazers, who had also won six straight on the road but couldnt keep up with the new-look Suns, who moved a game over .500. "We already played those guys three times and in all those games, we were better or we were close," said Dragic, who hit 4 of 5 3-pointers. "I dont know why. I think theyre a good matchup for us. They want to play slow in the half court and we want to run. And thats to our advantage." Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said before the game that he wanted to push the pace, adding, "Were not good when we hold the ball." But the Suns looked sluggish early and Portland looked poised to match the third-longest win streak in franchise history. Then Dragic took over. Playing without backcourt mate Eric Bledsoe (bruised shin) for a sixth straight game, Dragic fueled a 40-point second-quarter with a variety of 3-pointers, midrange jumpers and nifty passes for buckets on the fast break. Frye helped by heating up from the outside. Portland turned a 39-23 deficit into a 61-58 halftime lead. "Goran has just been on a tear," Frye said. "When he is feeling it like that you just give it to him and get the hell out of the way." Fryes 3 to start the second half was the beginning of a 10-0 spurt and he hit another 3 to start the fourth quarter as the Suns built a 97-78 lead. "Every time we look at the tape, if we play half court we have problems," Dragic said. "But when we run we got those easy, open 3s or easy layups. Everybody wants to play like that. Its really fun." It was no fun for the Blazers, who had another miserable visit to the desert. It was Portlands 22nd loss in the past 26 trips to Phoenix, including a loss on opening night. Not even Bledsoes continued absence could keep the surprising Suns from winning for the third time in four games. After limping through the morning shootaround, Bledsoe had an MRI that Hornacek said "didnt show anything besides what they knew already, which is a contusion." Bledsoe has been sidelined since colliding with teammate P.J. Tucker in practice Nov. 17. The Blazers havent had the same uncertainty, starting the same five players all 16 games. And Portland came out with much more energy early, racing to a commanding lead early in the second quarter behind Aldridges play inside and ex-Sun Robin Lopezs work on the boards. But the Blazers struggled to contain Dragic. After Lillard struggled to stay in front of him, Nicolas Batum took a turn on Dragic, who added five rebounds and four turnovers as Phoenix set a season-high in points. "Thats something special in the NBA to win that many games in a row," Aldridge said. "Were definitely proud of it but we have to bounce back and not lose two in a row." NOTES: Hornacek said they plan each game as if Bledsoe wont play so theyll be "surprised" when he does. "I thought hed miss one game or maybe two games. But hes got to be able to push off and if he cant then he doesnt play." ... The Blazers made only 7 of 19 3s after entering the game shooting 42 per cent. But Stotts insisted before the game he believes they can continue to shoot well if his top five shooters take the bulk of the shots. "Its not far-reaching to think that each one of those guys could shoot 40 per cent or better on the season," he said. "So is 42 per cent sustainable? I think it is." . Ex-Suns F Grant Hill attended the game. ... Blazers G Mo Williams (three points) returned after serving a one-game suspension for his role in a scuffle Saturday against Golden State.Joe Barksdale . NHL hockey is returning to the Manitoba capital. The True North Sports and Entertainment group announced on Tuesday that they have completed a deal to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg in time for the 2011-12 season. Kendall Langford Jersey . -- Tyreke Evans is still making the adjustment from point guard to small forward for the Sacramento Kings.NASHVILLE -- The Nashville Predators were happy to be back home, even if it was for just one game. Rookie Marek Mazanec made 39 saves for his first NHL victory and the Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2 Saturday night. Craig Smith scored a goal and added two assists for the Predators. The three-point game equaled the Madison, Wis. natives career high. Matt Cullen, Nick Spaling, Patric Hornqvist, Viktor Stalberg, Mike Fisher and Shea Weber also scored for Nashville, which ended a four-game losing streak. Patrick Kane and Brandon Pirri had the goals for Chicago, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Making his second start in as many days, Mazanec stopped seven shots in the first, 17 in the second, and 15 in the third. "Its awesome," Mazanec said. "I am really happy. We played a really good game." The 22-year-old Czech is playing his first season in North America. Nashville played its first home game since Oct. 26, having just returned from a seven-game road trip that spanned 17 days. They head back out on the road for games in Detroit and Toronto next week. "Good response by our guys today," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We looked at this game as the end of road trip, not the first home game really because of the quick turnover and obviously playing the Stanley Cup champions." Cullen scored the games first goal at 7:28 of the opening period. From the slot, Smiths slap shot was stopped by Chicago goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. The rebound fell to the right of the net, and a diving Cullen poked the rebound in for his third goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Spaling doubled the Nashville lead when his wrist shot from the right faceoff dot slipped just underneath the crossbar at 8:25. Later in the first, Khabibulin left thhe game with an injury after making stops on shots from Weber and Hornqvist. Case Keenum. Corey Crawford replaced Khabibulin at 15:33. Following the game, the Blackhawks said that Khabibulin had a lower-body injury, but had no further update. "We got outworked," Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said. "We didnt do the things we needed to. We didnt win our battles, especially in the right areas we needed to win them in." Hornqvists sixth goal of the season came at 9:02 of the second to give Nashville a 3-0 lead. With Nashville on a power play, Roman Josis slap shot from just above the left faceoff circle was tipped by Hornqvist in front and beat Crawford on the short side. Smith and Kane traded goals late in the second, with Smith connecting at 18:18 and Kane answering 26 seconds later. "We just stayed positive and erased the last couple of games," Smith said. "We just kind of refreshed for this game. Its also nice to be home. Its a good feeling." Pirri briefly cut the Nashville lead to 4-2 at 6:14 of the third, but Stalberg, the former Blackhawk, struck back at 6:29. Fisher added his at 12:19. "It was a free night for them offensively, we were very gracious," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We know what it takes and we know theyre going to be desperate." Weber scored on the power play at 14:07. His assist earlier in the game on Hornqvists goal was his 300th career NHL point. The seven goals were a season high for Nashville. Notes: Mazanec became just the eighth goaltender in Nashville franchise history to record a victory. ... Nashville C Filip Forsberg missed the game with an upper-body injury. He is listed day to day. ... Kane has at least one point in his past six games. ... Chicago RW Marian Hossa missed the game with a lower-body injury. ' ' ' |
