Marion leads the way as Suns down Lakers

Steve Nash had 12 points and 17 assists, and James Jones added 17 points for the Suns, who posted their first victory of the season after losing at home to Dallas in double overtime on Tuesday. The Suns beat the Lakers for the fifth straight time.

"We kind of blew the first home opener, but I’m pleased with our offense and our running," said Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni. "We hit big shots down the stretch."

Kobe Bryant totaled 39 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but the Lakers failed to give Phil Jackson a win in his first home game since his return. Lamar Odom had 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, and Smush Parker tallied 21 points for the Lakers, who began their season with an overtime victory at Denver Wednesday night.

"There’s going to be games like that, games that are going to be up there (offensively), especially with the accuracy on three-pointers that they did tonight," Jackson said.

The Lakers allowed the Suns to shoot 10-of-23 from beyond the arc and lost for just the second time in their last 14 home openers.

The Suns had seven players score in double figures. Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas each had 14 points, Leandro Barbosa scored 12 and Eddie House finished with 10.

Phoenix led by as many as 17 points at 106-89, but the Lakers rallied and at one point closed within three in the closing minutes. A layup by Laron Profit with just over two minutes left had LA within 115-112, but Jones drilled a three-pointer a short time later and Bell’s rainbow jumper from the right corner with the shot clock running out made it 120-112 with 51.3 seconds left, sealing Phoenix’ initial victory of the season.

"Anytime people step up at the end of games to close teams out, that’s the sign of a good team," Nash said.

The Suns held a 31-30 edge after the first quarter, but they scored the first 10 points of the second and were in front 66-56 at the half. That advantage stayed in double digits for most of the third quarter before carrying a 95-87 cushion into the fourth.

A Marion alley-oop slam off a feed from Boris Diaw boosted the Phoenix advantage to 17 points with 9:09 left, but the Lakers quickly cut their deficit under double digits to set up a close finish.

Jackson guided LA to three world championships in five seasons before he and owner Jerry Buss mutually agreed to part ways shortly after the Lakers’ five- game loss to Detroit in the 2004 Finals.

Bryant, whose rocky relationship with Jackson played a large role in his departure, came through with a big game Wednesday night, hitting the winning shot. However, Bryant was unable to single-handedly push the Lakers to a 2-0 start one night later.

Game Notes

The Lakers are 30-16 in home openers since moving to Los Angeles...The Lakers were 6-of-23 from three-point range...Bryant was 13-of-26 from the field and missed just one of 14 foul shots...Phoenix shot 50.6 percent, while the Lakers were 47.1 percent from the floor.