Bell, Barbosa rain 3-pointers against hapless Bobcats

Much like the rest of his teammates, it took Raja Bell a little while to get going. But once he found the range Monday, any ideas the Charlotte Bobcats had of finally breaking through against the Suns quickly evaporated.

SLIDESHOW: View photos from the game

Suns notebook: Hill, Diaw share time, struggle

Bell missed his first five shots including his first three 3-point attempts. But the Bobcats were committed to a zone defense in hopes of slowing down the Suns, so there would be more chances.

Bell tied a career high by hitting seven of his last nine 3s as Phoenix pulled away and led by 25 points before settling for a 118-104 win at US Airways Center.

“We were a little sluggish early, maybe we were trying to do too much against the zone early,” said Bell. “They left me open a lot and I felt good, it just wouldn’t go in early.

“I even told a fan at one point ‘I know you guys don’t believe me and it doesn’t look like it, but it’s going to start going in.’ I just had a feeling I was on the way.”

Leandro Barbosa had the feeling, too, leading the Suns with 30 points on 11 of 17 shooting, including five of the 16 3-pointers Phoenix made. Amaré Stoudemire added 24 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, although he again found foul trouble in the second half.

The Suns (34-14) moved 1 1/2 games in front of Dallas and New Orleans, which was rocked in Utah (110-88) Monday and has now lost three straight in the race for the Western Conference lead. The Hornets, who have already beaten the Suns twice this year, visit Phoenix on Wednesday.

“It’s an important game against a team we haven’t beaten yet,” said guard Steve Nash, who overcame turnovers (five) and a poor-shooting night (3-for-10) to produce eight points and 11 assists. “We’re going to have to play, obviously, a lot better than we did tonight.”

Charlotte shot 60 percent in the first quarter and led by five in the first half. But the Suns hardly ever lose to an Eastern Conference team (20-2 this season) and never lose to the Bobcats, who are now 0-8 all time against Phoenix and don’t appear close to breaking through. Phoenix wasn’t sharp — three off days amid all the Super Bowl hoopla and nightlife might have had something to do with that — but still shot 52 percent and scored 118 points.

“We played good defense in the first half, but they figured out our zone and they started making their shots,” said guard Jason Richardson, who led Charlotte with 25 points but needed 21 shots to get there.

“Once they forced us out of the zone, it was hard to defend them.”