Suns Rally for 11th Victory in Row

After squandering a 20-point lead, the Phoenix Suns pulled away midway through the fourth quarter and defeated the Toronto Raptors, 106-94, Sunday night at Phoenix for their 11th consecutive victory.

Amare Stoudemire scored 33 points and Steve Nash had 18 points and 13 assists for the Suns to become the first NBA player with 10 assists or more in 11 consecutive victories.

The Raptors whittled the 20-point Phoenix lead to 75-69 by the end of the third quarter, then tied the score, 80-80, on Matt Bonner’s jump shot with 8 minutes 38 seconds to play.

“You can’t overlook those teams,” said Shawn Marion, who had 18 points and 18 rebounds for the Suns. “You can’t take them for granted.”

Nash had shared the record of 10 consecutive victories with at least 10 assists with Magic Johnson, who did it twice with the Lakers during the 1986-87 season.

Nash also tied a club record with 10 assists or more in 11 consecutive games. Kevin Johnson did it twice, in the 1990-91 and 1993-94 seasons.

Cleveland 100, New Orleans 91 -- Jeff McInnis scored six points in a 47-second span late in the fourth quarter to help give the Cavaliers an 11-2 record at home.

LeBron James came within one rebound of his first career triple-double with 22 points and a season-high 14 assists for the Cavaliers, who handed the Hornets their 12th consecutive road loss.

Golden State 98, Sacramento 94 -- Jason Richardson scored all of his 26 points in the second half and the Warriors ended an 11-game losing streak at Sacramento.

Minnesota 109, Washington 74 -- Wally Szczerbiak’s 23 points led four starters in double figures for the host Timberwolves, who have defeated the Wizards seven consecutive times.

Dallas 102, Denver 88 -- Michael Finley made three consecutive baskets during a third-quarter run and Dirk Nowitzki took over from there, scoring 25 of his 38 points in the second half to help the Mavericks rally at Denver.

New York 91, Charlotte 82 -- Tim Thomas scored 20 points to help lift the host Knicks.

Emeka Okafor had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Bobcats for his 15th consecutive double-double, the most in a row by a rookie since Shaquille O’Neal had 15 for the Orlando Magic during the 1992-93 season.

San Antonio 107, Boston 90 -- Tony Parker scored a season-high 27 points at San Antonio, and Tim Duncan had 14 points and 11 rebounds to improve to 15-0 against the Celtics.

Milwaukee 99, Chicago 92 -- Michael Redd scored 20 of his season-high 39 points in the first quarter to help the Bucks end a five-game skid and beat the Bulls at Milwaukee for the 13th consecutive time.