Suns down Pistons

Steve Nash isn’t going to complain about getting a win at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

But he feels the victory deserves an asterisk because of the injury to Pistons All-Star guard Chauncey Billups.

“It’s not like we are going home feeling like we beat the Pistons,” Nash said after the Phoenix Suns’ 108-101 victory Sunday in Auburn Hills, Mich. “We won the game, but we know they didn’t have their full team. It’s simple math. They still have a lot of talented players, but Chauncey’s one of the best in the league.”

Billups strained a calf muscle at the end of Friday’s one-point loss to Indiana, and Nash took full advantage of his absence, finishing with 35 points and 12 assists.

“He’s been taking over a lot of games lately, and he did it again today,” Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Amare Stoudemire added a season-high 31 points for the Suns and had 13 rebounds and three blocks.

Detroit got within 101-99 on Carlos Delfino’s layup with 1:39 left, but he missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer on the next possession, and Nash’s three-point play put the game away.

Spurs 95, Hawks 81: At San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 27 points and Tim Duncan added 17 despite playing with the stomach flu that has pestered the San Antonio roster the past week.

It was Parker’s third straight game scoring more than 20 points and fourth of five.

Manu Ginobili, who missed a game this week because of stomach flu, scored 18 for San Antonio, which opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run that gave it a 77-61 lead.

Joe Johnson scored 23 points for the Hawks, who have lost seven straight and 11 of 12. Atlanta has lost nine straight in San Antonio dating to Feb. 15, 1997.

Clippers 90, Knicks 80: Elton Brand scored 32 points and tied his career high with eight blocked shots to lead Los Angeles over visiting New York.

Chris Kaman had 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who have won four of their last five games following a six-game losing streak. The victory was their fourth straight over New York and eighth in the last 11 meetings.

Eddy Curry had 15 points for the Knicks, who are 0-8 against the Clippers at Staples Center.

Rockets 111, Grizzlies 109: At Houston, Tracy McGrady scored a season-high 38 points and had nine rebounds to help Houston beat Memphis, handing Grizzlies interim coach Tony Barone his first loss.

Juwan Howard added a season-high 22 points, and Luther Head had 18 in the Rockets’ third straight victory. They are 3-1 since Yao Ming broke a bone under his right knee.

McGrady hit 15 of 30 shots and went 5 for 8 from 3-point range. Dikembe Mutombo had 11 rebounds for Houston, which hit 14 3-pointers, a season high.

Mike Miller matched a season high with seven 3-pointers and scored 32 points for Memphis in its 12th loss in 14 games.

The Grizzlies lost five in a row before Barone replaced the fired Mike Fratello before Saturday’s 110-104 win over Toronto.

Mavericks 89, Nuggets 85: At Denver, Josh Howard had 28 points and 17 rebounds to lead Dallas to the victory over Denver.

Howard had nine points in the fourth quarter and made a key basket in the last minute. Jason Terry scored nine of his 21 points in the final period for the Mavericks, missing star Dirk Nowitzki because of a sinus infection.

Allen Iverson had 28 points and eight assists for Denver, and Earl Boykins added 20 points.

Marcus Camby had 13 points and 13 rebounds in his first game back after missing four games because of a broken finger.