Heated Stoudemire moving on

PHOENIX - Suns forward Amare Stoudemire declined to speak to reporters after the Suns lost to the Cavaliers 109-92 Monday night, frustrated the team managed just one field goal over the game's final 6:50 - a layup by Alando Tucker with just 38 seconds remaining.

Tuesday morning Stoudemire said he was still pretty heated about the game.

"Anytime you lose a game like that, where we couldn't score down the stretch, it's not easy to swallow," Stoudemire said after practice. "But we did a great job today of going over the things we needed to work on to improve.

"We feel better about ourselves now."

Stoudemire said he had trouble sleeping Monday night following the loss, but said his frustration will carry over to the team's Wednesday game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The forward did say if the Suns are going to get better they will need to cut back on the turnovers. The Suns had 19 Monday which led to 30 Cleveland points.

"We started off the game with a lot of turnovers, so it just kind of carried over the whole game," he said. "I think we're OK now, we understood what we did wrong out there - we just need to correct our mistakes."

Barbosa nearing return

Suns guard Leandro Barbosa, out since spraining his ankle November 29 in Toronto, took another step towards returning to active duty Tuesday.

Barbosa scrimmaged 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 halfcourt in his first real test of the ankle.

"It feels pretty good, except inside it's a little sore," Barbosa said of his ankle. "I was impressed with what I did, so I'm very happy.'

Barbosa, who said said he feels soreness when he "explodes to the basket," is expected to take part in his first full practice Thursday and then make his return to the lineup Christmas day against the Clippers.

The Suns are 4-7 since Barbosa was hurt.

Sports 620 KTAR's Craig Grialou contributed to this report