Marion, Nash star as Suns win again

HOUSTON -- Trying to beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter, Shawn Marion heaved a wild hook shot from the top of the key. The ball rattled around the rim and dropped in.

It was that kind of a night for the Phoenix Suns.

Marion, a former UNLV standout, had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Steve Nash had 19 points and 15 assists, and the Suns beat the Houston Rockets 115-105 on Saturday night for their fifth straight win.

Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudemire had 21 points apiece for the sharp-shooting Suns, who shot 62 percent -- 43-for-69 -- and went 10-for-19 from 3-point range.

"I never felt the game was close," Nash said. "We controlled the tempo all game."

The scary part is they think they should've scored more -- the accurate shooting masked 25 turnovers.

"I don't think we're quite where we should be," Marion said. "We've still got another notch to get to."

Grant Hill added 18 points for the Suns (8-2).

Mike James scored 17 in place of Tracy McGrady, who missed his second straight game because of a sprained right elbow. Houston is 11-41 without McGrady since he joined the team before the 2004-05 season.

Luis Scola had 20 points and 11 rebounds, but Yao Ming had only 12 points on 4-for-17 shooting for the Rockets, who have lost four in a row.

The Suns led 69-57 at halftime after shooting 73 percent in the first half (27 of 37).

Marion had a two-handed dunk to put Phoenix up 88-72 and finished the third quarter with a wild hook shot from the top of the key that rattled in to put the Suns up 94-76.

• Heat 91, Nets 87 -- At East Rutherford, N.J., Dwyane Wade scored 23 points and Penny Hardaway 16 in his best game since returning to the NBA, and Miami held off New Jersey.

Shaquille O'Neal had 18 points for the Heat (2-8), which snapped a three-game skid and sent the Nets to their fifth straight loss. Hardaway was 6-for-6 from the field.

Wade was 4-for-17 from the floor in his third game of the season but made 15 of 20 free throws before a clinching jumper in the final second.

Rookie Sean Williams scored 22 points in his first career start for the Nets, playing without injured All-Star Vince Carter. Jason Kidd had 16 points and 15 assists for the Nets, who had 27 turnovers.

• Mavericks 108, Grizzlies 105 -- At Dallas, Josh Howard had 27 points as Dallas edged Memphis to remain unbeaten at home.

Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points, including two free throws with eight seconds left, and Devin Harris had 19 points and eight assists for Dallas.

Mike Miller's 23 points, Hakim Warrick's 17 and Pau Gasol's 15 paced the Grizzlies, who've lost three in a row.

• Pacers 117, Jazz 97 -- At Indianapolis, Mike Dunleavy had 25 points as Indiana snapped a six-game losing streak by beating Utah,

Danny Granger had 19 points and Jamaal Tinsley eight points and 13 assists for the Pacers (4-6).

Carlos Boozer led Jazz scorers with 19 points, and Andrei Kirilenko added 12. They were the only Utah players to score in double figures.

• Hornets 100, Timberwolves 82 -- At Minneapolis, Peja Stojakovic scored 22 points and Morris Peterson 18 as the New Orleans won its fifth straight by beating Minnesota.

Playing without star point guard Chris Paul -- who sat out because of a sprained right ankle suffered in Friday's win at Memphis -- the Hornets (9-2) found other ways to key their offense.

Backup point guards Jannero Pargo and Bobby Jackson combined for 22 points and 12 assists. All five Hornets starters scored in double figures.

• Bulls 92, Clippers 73 -- At Los Angeles, Ben Gordon scored 25 points, and Andres Nocioni shrugged off a couple of flagrant fouls to score 21, leading Chicago to a rout of Los Angeles.

Chris Kaman had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers, whose injury run continued with the absence of Corey Maggette (right hamstring strain) and No. 1 draft pick Al Thornton (sprained right ankle).

• Bobcats 100, SuperSonics 84 -- At Charlotte, N.C., Gerald Wallace had 27 points and Jason Richardson 23 as Charlotte wore down Seattle.

Raymond Felton added 13 points and 12 assists and Emeka Okafor 12 points and 15 rebounds as the Bobcats held Seattle to 31 percent shooting.

Kevin Durant, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer Friday against Atlanta, had 16 points on 3-for-12 shooting. Chris Wilcox had 20 of his 24 points in the first half for Seattle.

• Wizards 109, Trail Blazers 90 -- At Washington, Antawn Jamison had 30 points to lead short-handed Washington past Portland for its fourth straight win.

About an hour before the start of the game, the Wizards said that Gilbert Arenas, who had surgery on his left knee in April, would miss the game with soreness in his knee.

• Nuggets 115, Knicks 83 -- At Denver, Carmelo Anthony had 24 points and Allen Iverson 23 as Denver won its fifth straight game and handed New York its sixth straight loss.

Marcus Camby grabbed 20 rebounds and had six assists against his former team. Zach Randolph had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks.

• Bucks 105, Hawks 96 -- At Milwaukee, Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd each scored 21 points to help Milwaukee extend Atlanta's road losing streak to 17 games.

The Hawks' Josh Smith, who missed Friday's game against Seattle with a left quadriceps strain, started at center and scored a career-high 38 points.