Suns notebook: Team without Nash, O誰eal in loss

NEW ORLEANS - The Suns beat the Kings in Sacramento without Steve Nash, and the Thunder in Oklahoma City without Shaquille O’Neal.

No Nash and no O’Neal against the Hornets? Um, no. With Robin Lopez in the post and Leandro Barbosa at the point, the Suns couldn’t stay with New Orleans in a 104-91 loss.

While the Suns were missing two of their big three players, the Hornets’ trio of Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic and David West combined for 71 points to take advantage of the manpower mismatch.

“I give our guys a lot of credit,” Phoenix coach Terry Porter said. “We came out and played hard and played a good game.”

O’Neal will definitely return Thursday night in Dallas, and the Suns hope that Nash, who stayed in bed all day at the team hotel trying to fight off a flu bug, will be able to go, as well.

LONG-RANGE SUCCESS

When the Suns said 3-point shooting was one of the major attributes brought to the team by Matt Barnes, many rolled their eyes. After all, Barnes was a 33.5 percent shooter from behind the arc in his five-year career, and that figure dropped to 29.3 percent last year in Golden State.

But so far, Barnes has been much better. After hitting 20 3-pointers in the last eight games, including the game-winner at Oklahoma City, he is shooting a career-best 41.6 percent (32-for-77) from long range. He was 3-for-7 against the Hornets, fighting through 32 minutes with a back strain that has bothered him on and off for two weeks.

“I’ve put in extra work on the shot and I have a lot of confidence in it,” Barnes said. “I try to come out of the gate aggressive, because that’s when the defense is kind of lax. And if you can catch a rhythm early, it can carry with you for the rest of the game.”

While many long-range shooters work to make sure their shots have arc, Barnes said he’s the opposite. “I don’t consciously think about it, but my shot doesn’t have much air under it. When I’m shooting well, it’s flat and straight and down. I want to use my legs to get up in the air and make sure I follow through. It feels very good right now.”

'T’ PARTY

After getting his technical fouls under control last season, Amaré Stoudemire is on another roll. After being ejected in Sunday’s loss to the Nets, Stoudemire got his second in two games against the Hornets this season while disputing a second-quarter call with referee Scott Foster.

Stoudemire now has six technical fouls this season, second only to Boston’s Kendrick Perkins (nine).

“I still have things under control, just a few words here and there, nothing major,” Stoudemire said. “This year, it seems like I can’t say anything. I’m in the hot spot as far as the bulletin board goes. 'Watch out for Stoudemire.’ I guess I have to take it slow until I get off the board.”

GREAT SEATS, BUDDY

First, he watched the Spurs win a few championships. Then, he cheered the Suns on to some 50-wins seasons. Now, Sean Marks finds himself in New Orleans with another team expected to go far in the playoffs — and he’s enjoying the ride.

He missed the first 11 games with a hamstring injury, but has played in the last three.

“This team has a lot of similarities to the Suns — a great point guard, a great nucleus of starters and good role players off the bench,” said Marks, who missed all three shots from the field Wednesday but did pick up four fouls in his nine-plus minutes. “It’s a lot of fun here. I’ve been very lucky in my career to find my way on to three great teams, and I think there is an opportunity to play here if I prove myself.”

BONUS SHOTS

The Suns have lost their eight games by an average of 12.9 points. ... Chris Paul had three steals Wednesday and now has at least one steal in 100 straight games, the longest such streak in the league. ... The first of Stojakovic’s five 3-pointers Wednesday was his 300th as a Hornet. ... Grant Hill had two steals, leaving him one shy of 1,000 for his career. ... The last time the Suns lost three straight games (Feb. 9-14, 2007), Nash missed all three due to injury.

SUNS AT MAVERICKS
When: 6 p.m. Thursday
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
Radio: KTAR (620 AM)
TV: TNT
Records: Suns 11-8, Mavericks 9-8
History: The Suns lead the all-time series 69-49, but the two teams have split the last 14 meetings (7-7) and two playoff series in the four years since Steve Nash left the Mavericks for Phoenix. Dallas won two of three games last year, including a 105-98 win in Phoenix — the only meeting since Shaquille O’Neal and Jason Kidd joined their respective teams. Dirk Nowitzki had 12 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 31-point effort from Amaré Stoudemire. The Suns scored only nine points in the fourth quarter, two shy of a franchise low.
Suns notes: Now the owners of a rare three-game losing streak, the Suns figure to have both Steve Nash (flu) and Shaquille O’Neal (rest) back in the lineup tonight. The Suns cleaned up the turnovers in New Orleans (13), but the offensive rebounds continue to haunt them of late. Grant Hill played 40 minutes against the Hornets and Matt Barnes tweaked his back again, so who starts at small forward now?
Mavericks notes: Dallas is over .500 for the first time this season, but just barely. On Tuesday, they had to rally to beat the hapless Clippers at home, wiping out a 13-point deficit with an 18-4 closing run to squeeze out a 100-98 win. Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and Brandon Bass combined for 55 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 29. The Mavericks won without Josh Howard, who has missed eight games, including the last six with a sprained left ankle that leaves him questionable for tonight. Antoine Wright will miss his third straight game with a groin strain.