(Sports Network) - The Phoenix Suns hope to avoid their longest home losing streak in four years when the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs invade the US Airways Center this afternoon.

The slumping Suns actually haven't been winning much at any venue as of late. Phoenix enters today's showdown with losses in four of its last five games and have gone a surprising 3-6 since Shaquille O'Neal made his debut with the club on February 20.

After dropping a 126-113 decision at Denver on Wednesday, the Suns returned home and were handed a 126-118 defeat by Northwest Division leader Utah two days later. The Jazz erased a nine-point deficit after three quarters by outscoring Phoenix by a whopping 41-24 margin in the final period.

The loss spoiled a 37-point effort from Suns forward Amare Stoudemire, while O'Neal netted 20 points on the evening. Steve Nash compiled 17 points and 15 assists for Phoenix, which has now tasted defeat three straight times at the US Airways Center.

The Suns have not lost four straight home games since March 6-19, 20004.

San Antonio, meanwhile, will attempt to avert suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time since a three-game slide in late January. The Spurs have won 15 out of 17 following that skid and began that impressive stretch with an 84-81 victory over the Suns in Phoenix on January 31.

The Spurs had ripped off 11 consecutive wins before falling in Denver on Friday, when the Nuggets used a strong second half to come through with a 109-96 triumph.

Denver trailed 54-46 at halftime but outscored San Antonio 34-17 in the third quarter to forge ahead.

Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 24 points and Tim Duncan scored 23 while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.

Despite Friday's setback, San Antonio still owns a 1 1/2-game advantage on Houston and New Orleans for first place in the Southwest Division and is just one-half game back of the Los Angeles Lakers in the battle for the Western Conference's top seed.

The Spurs bring a 17-13 road record into today's tilt and have won nine of their 11 most recent games away from home. San Antonio has also defeated the Suns in 12 of the last 16 regular-season meetings between the clubs, although they've split a pair of matchups so far during this campaign.