Led by Brandon Roy, the Trail Blazers battled back from 23 points down to make a game of what would eventually be a 97-92 loss to the Phoenix Suns at the Rose Garden. Roy finished with a game-high 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in the losing effort. Travis Outlaw added 14 points to go along with five boards and two blocked shots. LaMarcus Aldridge, Jarrett Jack and Channing Frye each scored 11.

The Suns have won 11 of the last 12 games against the Blazers, including the last seven.

“I thought we missed some easy point-blank range shots early in the game," Head Coach Nate McMillan said after the game. "In the first quarter they pretty much got what they wanted, the first half, they were knocking down threes and getting to the basket. It seemed like we had open looks they came down and scored pretty easily. We looked tight. I thought we started to tighten up and they got what they wanted and built the lead that was tough to dig ourselves out of.

“I thought in the second half we came out and played the way we are capable of playing. Maybe you’re down and you’re a little more relaxed and we got ourselves back in the game and had a chance to win it.

Phoenix had lost two straight and was 2-4 since adding center Shaquille O'Neal to the lineup. The Suns have also surrendered the top spot of the Western Conference's Pacific Division to the Los Angeles Lakers.

O'Neal finished with six points and 13 rebounds.

The Suns led by as many as 23 points while Portland struggled on both ends, but Steve Blake's layup early in the fourth quarter narrowed it to 79-73.

Portland pulled to 83-81 on Joel Przybilla's layup with 7:41 left before Phoenix scored six straight. The Blazers kept up the pressure, and Jarrett Jack's layup squeezed it to 89-87.

Stoudemire's two free throws made it 91-87 with 41 seconds left. It appeared that the Blazers could have a chance when Brandon Roy's layup was tapped in by Channing Frye, but Frye was called for offensive basket interference and the Suns held Portland off the rest of the way.

The Suns jumped up to a 12-5 lead early on Stoudemire's flying dunk over 7-foot-1 Przybilla. Phoenix led 29-20 at the end of the first quarter, as the Blazers struggled with five turnovers.

Stoudemire's jumper put Phoenix up 40-24 and the Blazers continued to struggle. Raja Bell's jumper made it 51-30, the Suns' biggest margin of the first half.

The Suns, who led 60-41 at the half, outrebounded the Blazers 26-16. Portland shot just 41 percent for the game and was 2-for-15 from 3-point range.