by Paul Coro - Apr. 18, 2012 04:08 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com
Thunder (44-17) at Suns (32-29)
C: Kendrick Perkins ... Marcin Gortat
PF: Serge Ibaka ... Channing Frye
SF: Kevin Durant ... Jared Dudley
SG: Thabo Sefolosha ... Shannon Brown
PG: Russell Westbrook ... Steve Nash
Key Thunder injuries: Eric Maynor (knee) is out.
Key Thunder reserves: James Harden, Nick Collison, Derek Fisher, Nazr Mohammed, Daequan Cook.
Onto today's Orange Slices...
* Suns small forward Grant Hill will "probably not" play tonight against Oklahoma City because of the soreness he experienced in his right knee since his weekend return to action.
Hill played in back-to-back games two weeks after a knee scope but made a cut defensively Saturday that aggravated the knee at San Antonio. He was held out of Monday night's win against Portland but the hope is that he could play Thursday night against the Clippers.
"There is probably a very good chance that he won't play," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said, attributing it to how Hill has been feeling and avoiding games on consecutive nights.
The Suns will start with Jared Dudley on Durant but run several other players at him and different coverages, including probably some zone.
"He's not a guy you can give a steady dose of anything," Gentry said.
* It is another high-impact slate for the Western Conference playoff race tonight.
All five of the teams jockeying for the West's final three postseason spots are in action tonight, including Houston and Dallas against each other. The Rockets are at the Mavericks in probably the biggest game for implication on the Suns. It would not be impossible for the Suns to pass Dallas (they can't just merely catch them because they would lose the tiebreaker) but the Suns' easier path to the playoffs is keeping Utah behind them and staying in front of Houston, something they are only doing on the merit of a tiebreaker now.
Denver has moved ahead of Dallas for sixth place and is at home against the Clippers tonight. Utah, still only a half-game behind the Suns, is at Portland tonight but the Jazz must pass the Suns because Phoenix has clinched the head-to-head battle even with a game yet to play in Salt Lake City.
"We have a chance to control our own destiny," Suns guard Steve Nash said. "We definitely would've taken that at the start of the year and the All-Star break. It's a testament to everybody who stuck with it.
"All of our games still mean a lot and that's all you can ask for, especially considering how we started."
* The Thunder is coming off its worst loss of the season Monday night at Los Angeles against the Clippers. Oklahoma City led at halftime but posted a 25-point second half with 29 percent shooting, including misses on all 11 of its 3-point tries. Durant and Westbrook scored five points in that second half.
Oklahoma City has clinched the second seed but Coach Scott Brooks said nothing changes with the team's approach to the game. Thunder is one-half game behind San Antonio for the West's top overall playoff seed.
The Suns played the Thunder well for two and half quarters in their last meeting March 7 at Oklahoma City.
The Suns were leading 84-68 with 17 minutes remaining in the game before crumbling and losing by 11. The Thunder had three 30-point scorers (James Harden, 30, Kevin Durant, 30 and Russell Westbrook, 31) and a 20-rebound game (Serge Ibaka).
Oklahoma City has the second best shooting percentage in the league and leads the NBA in blocked shots but they have not outplayed the Suns since the All-Star break.
"They have shooters all around the floor and they have a point guard who finds them and Gortat is playing great basketball," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said of the Suns. "He's right at borderline an All-Star level. The way he rolls, the way he finishes around the rim and he can shoot the mid-range shot. They are really playing well. Their role players are really doing a good job. Give Alvin a lot of credit the way he's having this team compete, Fighting for a playoff position is pretty incredible. If I had a vote, to me, he's the Coach of the Year."
The Suns are 11-2 at home since the All-Star break while the Thunder has lost three of its past five road games. This is Oklahoma City's only Phoenix visit of the season.
"I feel like we've played really good basketball since the All-Star break," Nash said. "We can compete with everybody. It's just a matter of trying to put together a complete game and close it out. This is the time to do it."
*Tonight will be a special night at the arena regardless because John MacLeod will be inducted. It is the first ceremony since 2007, when Jerry Colangelo was inducted. It looks like MacLeod will be honored in the southeast corner by Paul Westphal, the only other Suns coach to get them to the NBA Finals.
MacLeod, 74, is the winningest and longest tenured coach in Suns history and once guided the Suns to eight consecutive playoff appearances.
MacLeod will be joined in a halftime ceremony by many other Ring of Honor members and many of MacLeod's past players.
"The thing I remember about Coach more than anything is he was the first guy that tried to hide all his play calls with his jacket," Gentry said. "He was a great coach. Everybody talks here about 'Seven Seconds or Less' and what we've done the eight years here and how we play offensively. They played that way here forever. If you look at the teams he had and the points they scored and where they ranked offensively, this has always been an uptempo franchise.
"He's really the guy who established what the fans saw here and what the fans like to see."
* Phoenix Phactoid Pharaoh Vince Kozar's Phun Phact o' the Day: A win tonight would secure a .500 season for the Suns for the 30th time in the franchise's 44-year history.
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