"The last game that didn't count for the Suns has wound up counting a lot.

When the Suns closed the preseason in October with Portland outrebounding them 50-28, it was the final bell on an alarming rebounding issue. The Suns were going to have to crash the glass by committee. Suns starting wings Grant Hill and Jason Richardson took heed and one or the other posted a double-digit rebounding game in six of Phoenix's first 11 games.

Now that it counts most, the Suns swingmen had been the team's leading rebounders

entering Game 6, with Hill averaging 7.6 rebounds per game in the series and Richardson at 6.8 per game.

"The one thing the two of us have done this season is rebound pretty well from the perimeter," Hill said. "The big guys are keeping their guys off the boards. We just go in there and get them. Portland is known for being long and attacking the offensive glass. It's been something we talked about as a team. We've got to get to the boards before we can get out and run."

Phoenix entered Thursday as the NBA playoff leader in second-chance points (17.2 per game).

"Those guys are really long so Channing (Frye), Jarron (Collins) and Amar'e (Stoudemire) are doing a great job of keeping them off the glass and the guards have to come back to get the rebound. Those guys have got their hands full. We're just trying to help them out," Richardson said.

Lopez leaves it to fate

Suns center Robin Lopez is on the path to join the Suns' next practice and potentially be cleared for game action in a second-round series but he and his coach are cautiously optimistic about where he stands five weeks since his last game and after being diagnosed with a bulging disk.

Lopez played in a controlled two-on-two scrimmage Wednesday.

"It's nice to change it up," he said. "It's still a little far off. We're doing all we can do but right now it's up to the hands of fate, however long it takes to heal.

"I feel OK doing what I'm doing but it's a world of difference from putting it all together. Right now, we're isolating different actions.""