Suns notebook: Flu latest ailment to bench Bell

Ankles, knees, backs … and now the stomach flu has put Raja Bell on the sideline.

After coming down with the stomach flu Friday night and spending much of Saturday in the bathroom, Bell tried to give it a go against the Hornets. But less than a minute after the opening tip, Bell signaled to the bench that he was having trouble and coach Mike D’Antoni motioned for Leandro Barbosa to replace him.

Hornets hustle past Suns in fourth

See a slideshow of the game.

Read Jerry Brown's blog, Rim Shots

It took 2:36 to get him off the floor, but Bell quickly disappeared down the tunnel and was on his way home by the end of the first quarter.

The Hornets had their own problems. Forward David West, who averages 19 points and nine rebounds, missed the game after landing hard and bruising his hip Friday in Golden State. But a New Orleans team that averages just 97 points with West hardly needed him against the Suns, rolling up 118 points and hitting 11 3-pointers.

A HAPPY DEVIL

New Orleans coach and Arizona State basketball legend Byron Scott was happy to get a chance to watch the Sun Devils beat Oregon State Saturday. Scott follows his alma mater closely and says he always wears the school colors despite their struggles in basketball since he left in the early ’80s.

“Coach (Herb) Sendek is doing a terrific job,” Scott said. “I was happy when he got the job and I had no doubt he would do well. I followed him at North Carolina State. Don’t be surprised if they just keep winning and get into the top 25 before the season is over.

“All I know is they’d better beat U of A (on Wednesday). I’m tired of them kicking our butt. I was talking to a good friend and they say Arizona has won 26 of the last 27 or something. I told him, they never beat us (when Scott played for ASU), so I have that to hold on to.”

D.J. THRIVES IN D-LEAGUE

As Alando Tucker did during his stint with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, Suns guard D.J. Strawberry is lighting up the scoreboard in the NBA Developmental League.

In his five games with the Thunderbirds, Strawberry is averaging 31.6 points — including 39 in Saturday’s win over Fort Wayne when he made 14 of 24 shots, including four from 3-point range.

That’s 158 points in five games for Strawberry, including a Dec. 28 win over the Utah Flash in which he had 41. But he also had eight turnovers in that game and is averaging almost five a game — a symptom of the ball-handling problems the Suns want him to work harder to correct.

BONUS SHOTS

When Steve Nash has to carry more of the offensive load for Phoenix, the team suffers. In Phoenix’s 10 losses this season, Nash is averaging 20.8 points on 15.6 field-goal attempts — compared with the 23 wins in which he had averaged 15.3 points on just 10.3 shooting attempts.

With Barbosa leading the way (28 points in 37 minutes), the Phoenix bench outscored New Orleans 50-7 on Saturday. But for the second straight night, the New Orleans starters accounted for more than 100 points (111) and carried the load.

New Orleans is 3-2 this season against Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio. The Hornets were winless (0-12) against those teams last season.

Sun spots

Did you see that?: The Suns lost back-to-back games to the New Orleans Hornets for the first time in more than four years — when they lost five straight between March 8, 2002, and Dec. 11, 2003. The Suns have lost five of their 10 games to up-and-coming West foes (0-2 against New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers, 0-1 against Golden State).

Player of the game: Chris Paul didn’t shoot well (11-for-26) but led the Hornets with 28 points. His only 3-pointer of the night gave the Hornets the lead for good with 3:05 left. Paul had 10 assists to only one turnover, playing all 48 minutes.

Unsung hero: Suns killer Morris Peterson hit five of his six 3-pointers and scored 22 points, including a huge 15-foot floater and foul shot with 1:09 left that gave the Hornets a six-point lead.

Thumbs up: The Suns blocked 12 more shots, but not many of them resulted in a change of possession as the Hornets scrambled to the ball faster and kept the Suns’ transition game at bay.

Thumbs down: What else? The Suns surrendered 15 offensive rebounds and 22 second-chance points against a New Orleans team that just seemed to want it more around the basket.