Suns' Nash to skip practice with sore hip

Suns point guard Steve Nash will skip practice and rest his sore hip until Phoenix open their NBA Western Conference second-round series against San Antonio on Monday.

The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player strained his right hip in a shootaround before game three of the Suns' first-round series against Portland.

He says he was troubled by the injury in that game but felt better in games four and five.

However, it flared up and was "the worst it's been" in the Suns' decisive 99-90 victory in Portland on Thursday.

"It's getting better," Nash said on Saturday. "I've had two good days, so I'm really fortunate that we don't play until Monday. It will give me a chance to recover a little bit."

Coach Alvin Gentry called Nash's ailment "a little hip thing".

"If it was a big deal I wouldn't be so calm," Gentry said.

Gentry said he had no problem with the veteran missing practice, deadpanning "I think he has a pretty good idea of what we're trying to do."

"We were going to go pretty hard today. I didn't want him out there doing that," Gentry said. "I gave him the day off. He came down, shot some, got some treatment and he'll do the same tomorrow."