Suns forward Amar'e Stoudemire is expected to hear a chorus of boos from fans in Portland on Thursday night.

Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum called Stoudemire "dirty" after Game 3, during which Stoudemire threw an elbow at LaMarcus Aldridge.

He was handed a Flagrant Foul 1 the next day.

Batum also accused Stoudemire of taking a shot at his injured shoulder in Game 4.

"Phoenix Suns, dirty players," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "Wow, we've come a long ways. Amar'e's not a dirty player. He's not even close to being a dirty player and neither do I think that anybody on their team is a dirty player. It's the same thing that happens in any playoff series. When you play somebody five times, there's going to be a little snippiness."

Stoudemire is fine with his role as Phoenix looks to close out the series.

"That's fine," Stoudemire said. "I love it. It definitely gets me riled up. I play better that way. It's the playoffs. Both teams have been physical.

"They're loud but it doesn't bother me. When you're home, it's great because your fans are with you. When you're away, it's almost a little bit better to me because they're loud and they're against you. It motivates me. When you win, it feels great."

Portland guard Brandon Roy has been coming off the bench since his dramatic return from knee surgery, but he doesn't plan to do that in the team's do-or-die Game 6.

The Trail Blazers are down 3-2 to the Suns as the series shifts back to the Rose Garden.

"I'm gonna ask to start," Roy said following Portland's Game 5 loss to Phoenix on Monday night.

"It's hard to get involved. I don't think the guys are quite used to me coming off the bench and it's hard for me to get my touches and try to get in a rhythm, so hopefully I'll be able to get back into the starting lineup."

Suns center Robin Lopez has been cleared to begin further rehabilitation on the bulging disk in his back.

He came out of a game about a month ago with twinge in his back and numbness in his legs.

Lopez was on the court Monday, taking contact for the first time since then.

He will not play in Phoenix's first-round series with Portland, but the second-year center could return in the second round if the Suns advance.

"As long as there's no setback, which there haven't been, you continue to ramp it up," Suns general manager Steve Kerr said. "The biggest thing is for him to respond well to the activity."

Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns is the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy presented to the 2009-10 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner, the NBA announced today.  

A 15-year veteran, Hill (Pacific) was one of six divisional winners, which included Atlanta?s Al Horford (Southeast), Boston?s Ray Allen (Atlantic), Cleveland?s Antawn Jamison (Central), Denver?s Chauncey Billups (Northwest) and Houston?s Luis Scola (Southwest).

Hill also won the award for the 07-08 and 04-05 seasons.

Alan Hahn spoke with Amar'e Stoudemire's agent who indicated that discussions with the Suns on a contract extension are currently on the back burner.

"Nothing will happen or even be discussed until the playoffs are over," Happy Walters said, because Stoudemire "is 100 percent focused on winning."

On an unrelated note about this summer's free-agency, Hahn reports that "more people in the NBA believe there is a greater chance that Joe Johnson stays in Atlanta than LeBron James stays in Cleveland."

According to a broadcast report from Craig Sager, Brandon Roy has been activated and will play in Game 4 today versus the Suns in Portland.

Roy was originally expected to start but will come off the bench.

The Blazers' All-Star had surgery on April 16 to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

The Suns lead the series 2-1.

Amar? Stoudemire and the Suns have re-initiated contract talks.

The two sides are getting nearer to a financial agreement though nothing is imminent.

The Suns made a new proposal to Stoudemire as recently as last week and a source close to the player said "they're getting closer to where they should be."

The team is reportedly now determined to retain Stoudemire.

Mavericks guard Jason Terry motivated the Suns to play better defense with comments he made back in late January.

While giving a halftime interview during a game in which Dallas was beating Phoenix at home, Terry said: "We've got to score on these guys. They're not very good defensively and we've got to make them pay."

The Suns have used the quote as motivation and coach Alvin Gentry threw it in their faces.

"With all the repetition and practice, it (Terry's comment) sparked more of a defensive mind-set for us because we knew we had to defend to win that game," Suns forward Grant Hill said.

"We get in huddles and timeouts in fourth quarters or tough stretches and we talk about getting stops. Whereas before, we were always thinking about our offense. That comment sparked something in us that became personal when he said that."

Suns forward Amar'e Stoudemire has been issued a flagrant foul for his actions in Game 3 against the Trail Blazers on Thursday night.

Stoudemire became entangled with Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge and swung his arm through to clear it. His elbow missed Aldridge and no foul was called at the time.

If it had been ruled a flagrant foul during the game the Blazers would have shot two free throws and gotten the ball back, a swing that could have represented five points.

Under the NBA's rule book, a flagrant 1 counts for one point. When a player reaches three points in the playoffs, he is automatically suspended for one game.

Suns forward Amar'e Stoudemire threw an elbow in a crowd on Thursday night in Game 3 against the Trail Blazers.

At first look the elbow was incident, but upon further review it looks more and more troublesome.

Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry is worried that the forward might face a suspension from the NBA.

The league suspended Celtics forward Kevin Garnett for a much more obvious and pointed elbow earlier this week.

"After what we've been through in the past ... " Gentry said, recalling the past suspensions of Stoudemire and Boris Diaw in a playoff series against the Spurs.