Suns off to hot start

The Phoenix Suns came out in the daytime for the first time this season, on a Sunday afternoon on the East Coast.

And they proceeded to commit 16 first-half turnovers.

The Suns settled down, giving the ball away only five times in the second half, and beat the Washington Wizards 102-90 to reach 6-1 and match the best seven-game start in franchise history.

"We just weren't really fresh today," point guard Steve Nash said. "Maybe it was the first day game of the season. We really didn't have a great bounce to us. We didn't really push the ball. We weren't really aggressive to start. That was the difference.

"We had some chances to be up 15 or 20. We just didn't really have energy to us today, but mentally we were tough and stuck with it at times and got it done."

Jason Richardson led the scoring with 22 points. Channing Frye had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Wizards, playing without injured starters Antawn Jamison and Mike Miller, shot only 39 percent from the field.

The Suns never trailed in the second half as they beat the Wizards for the sixth straight time, including five in a row at the Verizon Center. Phoenix wraps up a five-game trip today at Philadelphia.

Also Sunday

Pistons 88, 76ers 81: Ben Gordon scored 23 points, and Ben Wallace added 16 rebounds for host Detroit, who held Philadelphia without a field goal the final six minutes.

Wallace had seven of Detroit's 21 offensive rebounds and added three blocks and three steals. Charlie Villanueva added 16 points.

Andre Iguodala led Philadelphia with 24 points.

Thunder 102, Magic 74: Kevin Durant scored 28 points, Russell Westbrook added 17 points and 10 assists, and host Oklahoma City ran away from Orlando.

Orlando played for the fourth time this season without Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis, and Ryan Anderson was added to the injured list. The Magic seemed to run out of gas after a strong start.

Late Saturday

Mavericks 129, Raptors 101: Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and nine rebounds, and Josh Howard scored 16 in his season debut for host Dallas following ankle and wrist injuries.

Bulls 93, Bobcats 90: John Salmons scored 27 points, and Joakim Noah added a career-high 21 points and had 16 rebounds in host Chicago's third straight win.

Boris Diaw led Charlotte with 20 points.

Kings 104, Jazz 99: Tyreke Evans scored a career-high 32 points, and Sacramento held off host Utah in the Kings' first game without high-scoring guard Kevin Martin.

Bucks 102, Knicks 87: Andrew Bogut scored a season-high 22 points and had eight rebounds, and rookie Jodie Meeks added 19 points for host Milwaukee.

Clippers 113, Grizzlies 110: Chris Kaman had 26 points to help host Los Angeles win its third straight game - equaling its longest winning streak last season.

Note

Spurs' Parker could miss a week: San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker is not expected to play today against the Toronto Raptors because of a sore left ankle.

The Spurs said Sunday that Parker's injury was a mild sprain that could sideline him for a week. Parker rolled his ankle Friday in the second quarter of a loss at Portland. He did not return to the game.

Parker is averaging a team-high 14.8 points and four assists. He hurt the same ankle at the start of last season and missed three weeks.

Latest Comment View all comments