Nash sizzles as Suns top Wizards for 14th straight victory

Raja Bell added 21 points and eight boards and Shawn Marion tallied 21 points with six rebounds for the Suns, who moved within one more win of tying their franchise record for consecutive victories set earlier this season.

James Jones had 16 points, Amare Stoudemire recorded 15 points and seven boards and Boris Diaw registered 14 points and eight assists for Phoenix, which began a five-game road trip by improving to 30-2 over its last 32 contests.

"I did hear that they wanted to be the Phoenix Suns of the East," said Stoudemire. "I think there’s only one Phoenix Suns and we rest in the West. And that’s how it’s going to be for awhile."

Gilbert Arenas had 31 points to lead the Wizards, who had a four-game win streak halted. Caron Butler added 24 points and Antonio Daniels had 20 points for Washington, which fell behind early and never recovered.

Washington held its only lead of the game after Arenas connected on the first basket of the game. It was all Suns from then on. With the game tied at 6-6, Phoenix went on a 16-2 run to take a 14-point lead. Shawn Marion’s bucket with a little less than five minutes to play capped the surge for a 22-8 cushion.

The Suns later scored 13 of the final 19 points of the first quarter to take a 41-20 lead into the second stanza. Jones had seven points during the surge, which helped give the Suns their first 20-point cushion of the night.

Things got worse for the Wizards in the second, falling behind by as many as many as 29 points after a Nash three-pointer with a little more than half the quarter to play. Phoenix eventually cruised into halftime with a 76-51 advantage.

The Wizards never threatened in the second half, trailing 100-81 after three and never getting within 13 points in the fourth.

Game Notes

Phoenix improved to 14-5 on the road this season...Washington fell to 17-4 at home...The Suns will also visit New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Minnesota on their road trip...The Suns hit 13-of-33 three-pointers...Washington hit only 6-of-19 threes.