NBA Game Summary - Miami at Phoenix

Phoenix, AZ (Basketball News) - Raja Bell scored 24 points to lead a group of seven Phoenix players in double figures, as the Suns trounced the Miami Heat, 111-93, at the newly named U.S. Airways Center.

Shawn Marion added 19 points and 16 rebounds while James Jones had 16 points for the Suns, who have won two straight games. Boris Diaw added 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Kurt Thomas had 13 points for Phoenix, which never trailed in the game.

Steve Nash had 11 points and 19 assists and Eddie House had 10 points to complete the double-figure scorers for the Suns, whose only loss over the last seven games was to New York, 140-133, in triple overtime on Monday.

Antoine Walker had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead the Heat, who have started their seven-game road trip with two consecutive losses. Shaquille O’Neal was held to a season-low eight points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which played without starting guards Dwyane Wade and Jason Williams.

Wade missed the game with a bruised left shin while Williams sat out with tendinitis in his left knee.

The Suns ran away with this one from the beginning. Phoenix scored 16 of the first 22 points of the game to take a double-digit lead it never relinquished. Bell had seven points during the early surge with a Diaw bucket four minutes into the contest giving the Suns a 16-6 lead.

The club continued to pour it on, extending to its first 20-point cushion with 4 1/2 minutes on the clock when Bell drained a three-pointer for a 30-10 advantage.

The lead later extended to 24 points, 42-18, on Jones’ bucket with around one minute left until the second quarter.

"I think it’s safe to say that the first quarter made the difference," said Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni. "It was a phenomenal first quarter. We shot the ball so well that it’d be hard for any opponent."

Miami cut a 47-25 deficit at the start of the second, down to 14 points on Walker’s bucket just over 2 1/2 minutes into the stanza. However, Phoenix wasted little time increasing the lead to 59-38 on Kurt Thomas’ basket midway through the quarter and coasted to a 72-50 cushion going into halftime.

In the third, the Suns grabbed their largest lead of the game, 76-50, on a Marion bucket just over 1 1/2 minutes into the quarter. The team cruised to the fourth ahead 89-71.

Miami tried to make it a game in the final stanza, but could only get within 14 points and never any closer.

Gary Payton and Jason Kapono started in Miami’s backcourt in place of Wade and Williams. Payton ended with 15 points while Kapono had 16.