Grant Hill woke up thinking he could play Monday against the Nuggets. By midday, he was out for both ends of the home and home series that concludes Tuesday in Denver with the groin injury that kept him out of Saturday’s win over the Nets.

 The earliest Hill could return is Friday at home against Minnesota, although coach Mike D’Antoni said the Suns will hold him out until he’s feeling 100 percent rather than risk aggravating the problem.

 ”It doesn’t do us any good to have him in and out with this,” D’Antoni said. “We need to get it taken care of.”

 D’Antoni didn’t expect Hill to play Monday until the forward approached him before the shootaround telling him he felt like he could go. He took part in the walk-though and felt more discomfort in the area and was huddling with Suns trainers at the end of the workout.

 Leandro Barbosa will start and draw the defensive assignment on Allen Iverson, while Raja Bell switches to the small forward spot again and takes Carmelo Anthony.

 When Grant Hill arrived for Monday’s morning shootaround, he was convinced his injured groin has improved enough to play tonight against the Nuggets at US Airways Center.

 But by the time he was done, Hill was huddling with members of the training staff and officially shifted himself back to the “questionable” category, and will be a game time decision for the first of back-to-back games with
Denver.

 A few minutes after coach Mike D’Antoni said Hill had told him he was good to go, Hill said he could no longer commit to that statement.

 “We’ll see, game time, game-time decision,” Hill said “I’ll talk with (Suns general manager) Steve Kerr and talk with (head athletic trainer) Aaron (Nelson).

 “You want to play but you want also don’t want it to be nagging. Is it going to be nagging if I try to play tonight? I wish I could look in a crystal ball and figure that all out. But it is a little nagging right now. We’ll see come game time. I really don’t have an answer right now.”

 Hill has also bee troubled by a wrist sprain (“I also have a sty in my eye,” he said, showing it to the media) but said it was the groin – that he initially injured taking a charge from Kevin Durant of the Sonics on March 19 in Seattle – that would keep him out.

 If Hill can’t go, the Suns will be in a tough situation from a matchup standpoint against Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and the rest of the desperate Nuggets. Leandro Barbosa would get the start and  Phoenix would move Raja Bell to the small forward spot, as he did when Hill missed Saturday’s win at
New Jersey.

 Saying his right wrist is about 75 percent, Grant Hill will start tonight against Portland.

 He appeared to be having problems shooting during pregame warmups. He was wearing a brace on his wrist and will wear it during the game.

 ”You might see me go to my left a little more,” Hill said, smiling.

 Grant Hill is still having some problems with his sore right wrist but he will play and start against the Kings tonight.

 Hill was 1 for 6 from the field in Thursday’s win over Golden State and passed up on several shots after landing on his wrist in an early second period fall. He was able to pull down 11 rebounds and block two shots, playing 36 minutes in what he called his “Dennis Rodman mode.”

 Hill rested the wrist in practice Friday but felt good enough at Saturday’s shoot-around to give it a go.

 We’ll give you the matchups here in a little while.

  You never know when you’ll run into Shaquille O’Neal in the Valley? This couple traded an autograph and some pictures with O’Neal for a ride to Scottsdale Fashion Square — where he had trouble parking his big black rig. Shaq in a Honda Prelude? Apparently it’s a fit.

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/21381200.html

 The loss of Shawn Marion, addition of Shaquille O’Neal and the San Antonio’s acquisition of Kurt Thomas makes for some interesting matchups for today’s matinee — and if these teams meet down the road in the playoffs.

 *Steve Nash, who usually guarded Bruce Bowen, will get the first shot at Tony Parker today. Parker still isn’t 100 percent and is coming off a poor game in Denver Friday. But if PArker has his way with Nash early, look for Grant Hill to come off Bowen and get his shot at Parker.

 *Shaquille O’Neal will start out on Kurt Thomas — an interesting move because it puts Amare on Tim Duncan, and that hasn’t worked for the Suns in the past. When the Spurs were here Jan. 31, Stoudemire was on the bench three minutes into the game with two fouls. Shaq will likely go back on Duncan once the teams are into the flow of the game, but the first few minutes will be crucual for Stoudemire to avoid problems.

 *Raja Bell stays on Manu Ginobili, a tough assignment for anyone the way he is playing.

 Should be a good one. Hopefully the Suns got the memo that this was a 12:30 p.m. start and they don’t come out the way they did against the Pistons two weeks ago. Another blowout home loss to an elite team will have a huge ripple effect.

 Whether it was better defense or just a Portland team sliding away after a great start, the 92 points in the opponents’ scoring column looked pretty good to the Suns on Tuesday.

The Blazers shot 36 percent in the first half and 41 for the game, and the tough shooting nights by LaMarcus Aldridge (3-for-15), Jarrett Jack (4-for-11), Travis Outlaw (4-for-11) and others was at least partially attributed to the Suns stepping up their energy and playing aggressive, if not suffocating defense.

 For one half, the Suns were what Steve Kerr and Mike D’Antoni  thought was possible when they brought Shaquille O’Neal to town. The ruled the glass (26-16), got their running game going off the rebounds (12-4 in fastbreak points), made the most of their 3-point opportunities (4-for-6) and ruled the paint (28 points scored to eight for Portland). That’s going to lead to 54 percent shooting, 60 points and a 21-point lead more often than not.

 But when the shots stopped falling, the Suns resumed the panic mode that comes with uncertainty. The points in the paint dried up, the running stopped and Phoenix became the team that Detroit and New Orleans routed and Phildelphia took down. O’Neal wasn’t used on the offensive end (one shot) and Phoenix never got the one shot or mini-run that would have prevented the nail-biting in the final seconds.

 Now tonight comes a back-to-back road situation that has been difficult before and after the trade (the Suns are 2-5 this year and have lost four straight dating back to Minnesota in early December). The Nuggets are fighting for their playoff lives — two games out of the final spot with a brutal March staring them in the face — and feel that they might be able to run against this version of the Suns.

 A win re-establishes Phoenix’s mojo and sets up a huge homestand against Utah (Friday) and red-hot San Antonio (Sunday) — when the Suns get a chance to redeem themselves on national TV for the Detroit debacle. Lose, and Phoenix comes home in much the same situation they were when the left and the questions will continue.

 ”We saw what is possible — that we can play very much like we are used to offensively with the quick shots and running game and still have a defensive presence because of our inside people,” guard Steve Nash said. “We fought hard in the first half, and that energy produced the results. So now we know it’s there, and now it’s a question of how hard we want to work for it.”

 Coach Mike D’Antoni will use Gordan Giricek, who looked a little slow but under control in his two brief stints against the Blazers, and plans to used Linton Johnson tonight against the strong wing players of the Nuggets. That’s nine players deep, which is something the Suns are going to need if they are going to expend the necessary energy on defense to be successful.

 Nash played 38 minutes Tuesday — and the entire fourth quarter. He did exactly the same thing last Tuesday in a win at Memphis and had nothing left the next night against New Orleans. Grant Hill played 36 minutes, O’Neal 34 and Bell 40. Those numbers have to come down tonight and the rest of the way if Phoenix wants to have any gas left at the end of the road.

 Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Sekou Smith reports in his blog that Tryonn Lue told him he’s headed to Dallas to play behind Jason Kidd and won’t be joining the Suns, despite taking recruitment phone calls from friends like Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill.

 The Suns will sign Gordan Giricek on Tuesday, but were looking for more help at the backup point guard spot. Steve Nash has been playing heavy minutes while the team tries to adjust to the addition of Shaquille O’Neal and the Suns have nothing beyond Leandro Barbosa at the point. It looks like they will have to deal with that scenario.

  While the Suns wait for Gordan Giricek to clear waivers on Tuesday, they still aren’t done with their free agent shopping.

 Still looking for a little backup help at the point guard position, the Suns are attempting add point guard Tyronn Lue – who had his $3.5 million contract bought out by Sacramento Friday, leaving him eligible for the playoffs for a team that signs him.

 
Denver is also interested in the 30-year-old Lue, a 10-year NBA veteran who was shipped to the Kings in the Mike Bibby deal last month. He didn’t play in a game for
Sacramento before being waived.

 In 33 games with
Atlanta this season, Lue hit 30 of 69 3-pointers (43.5 percent) and is a 38.7 percent shooter in his career. He’s also a teammate and two-time winner with Shaquille O’Neal in
Los Angeles.

 He would be the smallest (6-foot, 175 pounds dripping wet) of what is already a small group of
Phoenix guards. But like Giricek, the move would by at minimal cost to the Suns – the prorated veteran’s minimum – and give the team some insurance at the point after Marcus Banks was shipped to
Miami in the O’Neal deal.

 If both Giricek and Lue are added, the Suns would have a full roster of 15 players for the first time since the 2004-05 season.