Suns storm back against Nuggets for win, 132-117

In a season and in a conference where every single win is precious, the Suns might treasure this one most of all.

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Pushed around and embarrassed for 24 minutes in their own building by the surging Nuggets on Monday, Phoenix drew a line in the desert sand at intermission and wiped out what was a 22-point deficit with a devastating 81-point second-half explosion to not only catch Denver but win going away, 132-117, at a rocking US Airways Center.

The 50th win of the season was truly golden. After shooting 32 percent in the first half and falling behind 62-40 with 4:24 left in the second quarter, the Suns fashioned the biggest home comeback in their 40-year history — tying for the third-largest comeback ever.

“They just dug down and said ‘enough is enough,’ and the crowd got into it and we got into it,” Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said. “They shot 60 percent in the first half, and some of the things they did were just impossible to stop. But some of it was us, too, and we had to be better.”

And they were. Amaré Stoudemire had 27 of his game-high 41 points after intermission, and Steve Nash hit five of his career-high eight 3-pointers as the Suns backed up a 35-point third quarter with 46 in the fourth, outscoring the Nuggets 33-12 over the last eight minutes and threatening to win by 20 themselves.

The Suns have now won 10 of their last 12 games and have four straight wins over Western Conference playoff contenders in that span (San Antonio, Golden State, Houston and Denver).

Denver closed the first quarter on a 12-0 run — with six players scoring one basket each — and extended the run to 16 straight. The lead reached 22 as the Suns missed 14 of 22 shots in the second quarter, and the trio of Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Boris Diaw combined to miss 16 of their first 17 shots.

Diaw called the first half “embarrassing.” Barbosa said the Suns somehow weren’t ready for the key game. But Stoudemire said the steam rose during intermission.

“It’s just one word: determination,” said Stoudemire, who now has a pair of 40-point games this season and has scored at least 30 in five of the last six games. “When you play hard, you play team basketball and at a high IQ level, it adds up to a 37-point swing.

“We came together at halftime and said, ‘Let’s fight for this. Let’s dig deep and fight to the end.’ We knew we weren’t going to shoot (32) percent and we knew they weren’t going to shoot (60). It was just a matter of how bad we wanted it.”

The Suns ran their pick-and-roll offense to perfection. Nash would peel off for a 3-pointer, or find Stoudemire for a dunk. Stoudemire would drive to the hoop or find Shaquille O’Neal (20 points, 12 rebounds) for a slam.

And with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson held to a combined 15 points in the second half, the Suns — who had 78 points in the first half the last time Denver came to town, a 137-115 rout on Jan. 7 — made up the deficit and began to disappear from view.

Phoenix remained in fifth place in the West while Denver’s five-game winning streak ended and the Nuggets slid back to ninth place — a half-game behind Golden State and a game behind seventh place.

“It was a total meltdown,” Iverson said. “They played better than us at both ends of the floor. They did what they wanted to offensively and walked us down. We were a better team in the first half, but they were a better team in the half that mattered.”

Suns spots

Did you see that? The 81 points the Suns scored in the second half Monday were the most by a Phoenix team in more than 14 years, when the Suns put 81 up in the first half of a 142-106 win over the then Washington Bullets.

Player of the game: Amaré Stoudemire was huge with 41 points, but Steve Nash was the catalyst for the huge comeback with 36 points, including a career-high eight 3-pointers — five of them in the second half when the Suns were 8 of 12 from behind the arc.

Unsung hero: Raja Bell overcame a miserable first half (1-for-7) to collect 13 second-half points while he and Boris Diaw limited Carmelo Anthony to six points on 1-for-6 shooting after intermission. Playing small forward for the injured Grant Hill, Bell added 10 rebounds and five assists.

Thumbs up: The Suns picked an excellent time to fashion the biggest home comeback in franchise history. The win guarantees at least a split in the season series with the Nuggets, who are sure to be looking for revenge tonight in Denver.

Thumbs down: The first half was a disaster. Shooting 32 percent was one thing, getting beaten down the floor and for every loose ball was another. Several Suns used the word “embarrassed” when talking about the effort. But somehow, Phoenix was able to turn the tide with an epic second half.

Suns at Nuggets

When: 6 p.m. today
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver
TV: KUTP (Channel 45)
Radio: KTAR (620 AM)
Records: Denver 45-29, Phoenix 50-24
Line: Denver by 5
Series history: Phoenix leads the overall series 80-55 but is 30-37 in Denver.