"Once the formalities of reconnecting with some familiar faces are over, it'll be business as usual for Leandro Barbosa.

For Barbosa, his entire tenure in the NBA has been with Phoenix, a place he nearly helped lead to an NBA title, a team that took advantage of his unique ability to get up and down the floor, but a team that lost faith in his game when injuries began to mount.

Quick as ever with the ball, as explosive as he has ever been when he gets out in transition, Wednesday night marks the first time Barbosa will face the team that traded him to Toronto this past off-season.

"It will be strange,'' began the shooting guard, who years ago was fittingly branded as the Brazilian Blur. "For seven years I played with those guys and even though that team has changed, I still have some best friends on that team.

"It's going to be different, but I'm looking forward to doing a good job with the Raptors."

Long before tipoff, Barbosa will seek out the likes of Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley to soak in the Sun, so to speak.

Good times will be relived, memories of playing in Vancouver during a similar pre-season backdrop will be replayed, but Barbosa is bent on establishing himself as a Raptor.

He's not exactly going to be playing with a chip on his shoulder, an edge that doesn't describe his game, but deep down Barbosa knows he wants to prove to Suns management that he didn't deserve fewer minutes in the final stages of his time in Phoenix when the aches and pains grew.

"I don't know the reason,'' added Barbosa when asked about his trade. "Maybe because I was hurt so many times and I didn't have a good year, but they knew what I could do for them.

"But I'm happy here, happy to be a Raptor."

What excites Barbosa the most is the opportunity to regain the form that made him the league's top sixth man.

When he averaged a career-high 18.1 points in 2006, Barbosa saw plenty of the floor, ran the court like a demon and couldn't be stopped.

What ensued was diminished minutes, a reduced role and a steady decline in virtually every statistical category."