[TomWilkinson]

Even though the Suns are without leading scorer Amare Stoudemire until later in the season they are still scoring at will and winning with increasingly regularity.

The Phoenix Suns have the NBA's longest winning streak, and just like last season, they have the league's top offense. The defending Pacific Division champions have climbed within a half-game of the division lead. The Suns are averaging 105 points after scoring an NBA-high 110.4 per game last season.

"We really want to establish ourselves early in the season, and get something going early in games, especially with the absence of Amare," James Jones said. "It's going to take some time to gel when Amare gets back, and we want to put ourselves in the best position possible for when that time comes."

Jones and Raja Bell were brought in to replace the losses of Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson, who were traded in the off-season. The Suns haven?t missed a beat, averaging 113.3 points in their last four games.

They've just a done a nice job of plugging in players," Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "They lost some great players last year to free agency and trades. Then you bring in a Jones and a Raja Bell, and they fit right in to what these guys are doing."