Aaron Brooks scored a season-high 25 points and the exhausted Phoenix Suns continued their domination of the visiting Toronto Raptors by rallying for a 114-106 victory on Wednesday.
Steve Nash added 16 points as Phoenix (36-34) came back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to defeat Toronto for the 14th consecutive time, one night after losing in triple overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Andrea Bargnani scored 27 points and DeMar DeRozan added 19 points for Toronto (20-51).
Marcin Gortat had 15 points and eight rebounds and put the Suns ahead for good at 107-105 on a layup with 1:38 left. Brooks added a 3-pointer and Nash connected on an 18-footer in the final minute as Phoenix pulled away.
Brooks also had eight assists while seeing 34 minutes of action as Phoenix reduced the playing time of Nash to 21 1/2 minutes after Tuesday’s 63-minute road contest. In addition, the Suns lost Grant Hill (flu) and Mickael Pietrus (knee) in the first half against Toronto.
The Raptors led 82-69 after Bargnani’s 3-pointer with 4:33 left in the third quarter. But the Suns rallied to tie the score at 86 at the end of the quarter on Brooks’ final-second layup. Toronto went ahead 103-97 after DeRozan’s dunk with 4:24 to play before Phoenix scored eight straight points, taking a 105-103 lead on Jared Dudley’s 3-pointer.
Toronto | Phoenix | |
Andrea Bargnani 27 | Scoring | Aaron Brooks 25 |
Jose Calderon 13 | Assists | Aaron Brooks 8 |
Ed Davis 9 | Rebounds | Marcin Gortat 8 |
Andrea Bargnani 6 | Free Throws Made | Channing Frye 4 |
DeMar DeRozan 3 | Steals | Aaron Brooks 3 |
James Johnson 2 | Blocks | Marcin Gortat 5 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Toronto | 106 | 48.5 | 3-12 | 9-12 | 25 | 49 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
Phoenix | 114 | 46.7 | 12-28 | 18-22 | 26 | 42 | 10 | 6 | 10 |