Suns use defense to beat San Antonio
This season’s Phoenix Suns can play rough. They proved it Saturday night against the defending NBA champs.
Shawn Marion and Steve Nash triggered a fourth-quarter surge that lifted the Suns over San Antonio 91-86 in Phoenix, snapping the Spurs’ five-game winning streak in a matchup of division leaders.
Marion scored 11 in the fourth quarter to finish with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Nash scored 10 in the fourth and had 22 points and 10 assists in the Suns’ seventh victory in eight games. The lone loss in the stretch was in triple overtime to the Knicks in New York on Monday night.
Marion and Nash agreed that last year’s run-and-gun Suns, despite their 62 victories, couldn’t have won a game like this one.
“We’re not going to win too many games last year with our defense. We certainly won with our defense tonight,” Nash said. “It’s great. It gives you a new source of pride.”
Boris Diaw also scored 18 for Phoenix, which beat San Antonio for only the second time in their past nine regular-season meetings.
Tim Duncan had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs. Manu Ginobili scored 19, Tony Parker 18 and Robert Horry 15 for the defending NBA champs.
Phoenix owes its newfound toughness to the arrival of Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas.
“Raja and Kurt are always there for us, physically and mentally,” Nash said. “They always make it difficult for the other team and always give us a chance to win.”
Jazz 94, Pistons 90 (OT): At Auburn Hills, Mich., Andrei Kirilenko had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and former Pistons player Mehmet Okur added 13 points and 17 rebounds as Utah beat Detroit for the second time this season.
The win gave Utah a season-series sweep of Detroit and almost as many wins against the Pistons (2) as the rest of the NBA combined (3). The 26-5 Pistons, losers for just the second time in 13 games, had their 10-game home winning streak snapped.
Lakers 112, Clippers 109: At Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 50 points and made a fadeaway jumper in the lane with 12 seconds remaining to lead the Lakers to a victory, ending the Clippers’ three-game winning streak over their hometown rivals.
Mavericks 83, Timberwolves 79: At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki overcame 3 1/2 quarters of being pestered by Kevin Garnett to score seven straight points in the closing minutes, helping the Mavericks rally past Minnesota.
The Timberwolves lost for the 10th time in 13 games, dropping them to 15-16. It’s the first time they’ve been under .500 since they were 1-2 on Nov. 5. This also was their sixth straight road loss.
Cavaliers 96, Bucks 88: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 35 points and shook off the effects of a hard fall as the Cavaliers rebounded from an awful loss with a win over Milwaukee.
Bulls 111, Grizzlies 82: At Chicago, Kirk Hinrich scored 26 points and Ben Gordon had 21 as the Bulls shot 62 percent and ended Memphis’ five-game winning streak.
Wizards 103, Celtics 102: At Washington, Gilbert Arenas scored 31 points, including two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining, and the Wizards escaped with a victory over Boston to snap a four-game losing streak.
Hawks 101, Hornets 93: At Atlanta, Al Harrington scored 24 points and the Hawks withstood a career-high 29 points from Speedy Claxton to beat New Orleans, ending the Hornets’ three-game winning streak.
Magic 108, Bobcats 92: At Orlando, Dwight Howard had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Magic took advantage of the injury-riddled Charlotte frontcourt for a victory over the Bobcats.
Off the court
Tim Duncan has officially notified USA Basketball that he will not be a part of the U.S. team that will compete at this year’s world championships and the 2008 Olympics. Jerry Colangelo, managing director of USA Basketball, said Saturday that Duncan’s agent, Lon Babby, had called with the news earlier this week. … Rockets forward Juwan Howard was suspended one game without pay by the NBA for shoving the basketball into the face of Raptors guard Mike James on Friday night. Howard will serve his suspension tonight when the Rockets host the Nuggets.