Phoenix 106 - Orlando 96
ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 10 (AP) -- Grant Hill isn't used to being the bad guy. He inherited the role Saturday against his former team.
The All-Star shrugged off relentless boos from his former fans for 14 points and eight rebounds as the Phoenix Suns beat the Orlando Magic 106-96 Saturday night. While the crowd focused on Hill, Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points and all five Suns starters cracked double figures to break the Magic's four-game winning streak.
"That's what fans are supposed to do -- they're supposed to boo opposing teams,'' Hill said. "When I used to watch ball back in the day, the 80s, Maurice Cheeks went into the Garden and he didn't get cheered, he got booed.
"We're trying to win a championship, and in order to do that we have to go on the road against other teams,'' Hill said. "You're going to get booed, you're going to get called all types of names -- you've got to be really strong.''
The Suns withstood a 33-point, 18-rebound effort by Dwight Howard, partly by keeping him at the foul line. Howard was 7-of-16 on free throws and missed four straight late in the third quarter as Orlando fell behind 23 points. Besides two attempts in the second quarter by Hedo Turkoglu and one late by Trevor Ariza, no Orlando player but Howard even tried a free throw.
Steve Nash had 19 points and 11 assists and Shawn Marion added 11 points and eight rebounds. Amare Stoudemire had 13 points and six rebounds in his second outing after missing three games with a sore knee.
The teams entered the game first and second in the NBA in 3-point attempts -- 27.7 a game for Phoenix and 25.7 for the Magic. Orlando went the whole first quarter without trying a 3, falling behind 34-27 before eventually shooting 8-for-19.
"I thought they did a pretty good job switching pick and rolls and stuff,'' Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Their energy level was very high, and I thought they did a very good job of closing out and getting to our 3-point shooters.''
Barbosa started in place of Raja Bell, who didn't dress after spraining an ankle late in the fourth quarter Friday against Miami. He scored 16 in the first quarter and missed only two shots in the period -- one of them a 39-footer just before the buzzer that nearly went in.
"As quick as Nash is, he can't even match Barbosa's quickness,'' Van Gundy said. "Leandro Barbosa is the fastest man in the NBA.''
Barbosa made 15-of-26 shots, including 8-for-13 from 3-point range.
"Coach always tells me to keep shooting,'' he said. "He says if you are open to shoot it. Today I was feeling great -- maybe I am not struggling anymore. You have to be patient when you are struggling.''
Carlos Arroyo had 13 points and eight assists for Orlando, Keyon Dooling scored 10 and Turkoglu and Ariza each added 11. Rashard Lewis struggled from the field with 3-of-14 shooting and finished with seven.
"I think they stayed a little closer to me out on the wings when they were rotating on the double team on Dwight,'' Lewis said. "They made sure they paid a lot of attention to me. But at the same time I missed a lot of easy shots -- just couldn't get into a rhythm all night.''
Both teams were playing their fourth game in five days. Orlando was 2-2 after playing the night before, while the Suns were 0-2.
Notes: Tiger Woods, who lives in area, watched from courtside. Both teams shot 47 percent from the field, but Phoenix attempted nine more shots. ... Nash was 9-of-13, one night after scoring 11 points in a row against the Heat.
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