Suns stay unbeaten, run past Heat 104-96

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer

MIAMI — Sluggish at times offensively, the high-octane
Phoenix Suns unveiled a new wrinkle.

Zone defense, of all things, kept the Suns unbeaten.

Steve Nash scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half, added
eight assists and the Suns used a dominant fourth quarter to
beat the Miami Heat 104-96 in a matchup of NBA unbeatens Tuesday
night.

“We’ve been working on it a little bit, but we haven’t really
used it much or had much success,” Nash said of the zone, which
Phoenix displayed in the second half for the first time this
season. “I was just glad, more than surprised. It really came up
well for us tonight.”

Sure did: Miami shot 35 percent in the second half, 23 percent
in the fourth quarter. Phoenix missed fewer shots (15) in the
entire second half than the Heat did (18) in the final 11 1/2
minutes.

Amare Stoudemire finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for
Phoenix, which overcame its largest deficit of the season. Jason
Richardson scored 10 of his 14 points in the final period for
the Suns, who are 4-0 for the first time since the 2004-05
season.

“We don’t read anything into being 4-0. We really don’t,” Suns
coach Alvin Gentry said.

Miami got 23 points from Dwyane Wade and 18 from Quentin
Richardson. The Heat (3-1) were bidding for their first 4-0
start in five years, and only the second in the franchise’s
22-year history.

“The zone changed our rhythm,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
“We didn’t have a lot of answers for that.”

Phoenix came in averaging an NBA-best 117.3 points per game, and
struggled during many stretches of the first three quarters.

The fourth, all Suns.

Jared Dudley’s driving three-point play with 7:03 left put
Phoenix up 87-84, and for good. Nash capped it with 2:13 left,
dribbling away from a Miami double-team for a three-point play
that made it 102-93.

Nash made 10 of his final 11 shots, the only miss in the final
27 minutes being a turnaround 17-footer with 3:24 left in the
third.

“I didn’t really play great in the first half,” Nash said. “I
didn’t get a lot of opportunities, made some turnovers, so I
wanted to get aggressive, give my teammates a chance to get back
in the game – and got on a roll a little bit.”

The 35-year-old Nash is averaging 21.5 points and 12.5 assists
so far, getting 17 points in the third quarter alone.

“He came out in that third quarter and put on a clinic,” Suns
forward Grant Hill said. “It was really fun to watch.”

Hill scored 10 points with 12 rebounds for the Suns. Jermaine
O’Neal – playing with a broken nose – scored 14, Michael Beasley
added 12 and Udonis Haslem finished with 10 points and 13
rebounds for the Heat.

After the game, playing zone drew a lot of talk in the Suns
locker room – and a bit of ire in the Heat locker room.

“I thought the zone was for college, personally,” Quentin
Richardson said. “I thought that was the difference between the
NBA and college.”

Miami led 26-23 after the opening quarter, which represented a
small victory: It was Phoenix’s lowest-scoring period of the
season. The Suns had scored 24 on three occasions.

Points were even tougher for Phoenix to come by in the second.

The Suns managed only 21 in that quarter and trailed by more
than 10 points for the first time in this young season. Wade’s
fast break dunk with 2:54 left put Miami up 50-37 and capped a
17-1 Heat run.

The Heat had another big burst in the third, scoring 11 straight
to go up 68-56. They were outscored 48-28 the rest of the way,
and Wade tipped his cap to Nash.

“That’s greatness,” Wade said. “You expect nothing but that out
of him.”

NOTES: Haslem tied a team record with three straight
double-digit rebound games off the bench. … It took Wade
nearly 5 minutes to take his first shot; all nine other starters
had gotten at least one try off to that point. … The Heat were
without Daequan Cook (right shoulder strain), who said he’ll
miss Wednesday’s game at Washington as well. Phoenix played
without Leandro Barbosa, who has battled a sore right wrist
since the summer. Barbosa played in the Suns’ first three games,
but was courtside Tuesday with a brace over his wrist.

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