National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Houston 96, Phoenix 89
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 9, 2012
Where: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Officials: #47 Bennie Adams, #34 Kevin Cutler, #48 Scott Foster
Attendance: 16122

Luis Scola scored 16 points and the Houston Rockets rode another sensational performance from their bench to a 96-89 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.

Patrick Patterson added 14 points to lead five reserves in double figures as the Rockets won their third straight and snapped the Suns' three-game winning streak.

One night after getting 66 points from its bench in a victory at Portland, Houston received 57 points from its second unit in beating Phoenix for the eighth time in the last 10 meetings.

Starting point guard Kyle Lowry scored 14 points despite playing with a strained elbow suffered Wednesday night and backup Goran Dragic added 11 points and 11 assists.

The Rockets went ahead for good when Chase Budinger and Dragic buried 3-pointers in an 8-0 run for a 92-85 edge with 3:12 to play. Budinger had 12 points and seven rebounds to help Houston dominate the backboards 44-31.

Jared Dudley rallied the Suns from a 10-point halftime deficit, scoring half the points in a 16-3 run for a 60-57 lead. Phoenix hit six 3-pointers in the quarter for a 76-74 lead entering the fourth.

Houston used a 17-3 second-quarter spurt by its bench to open a double-digit lead and carry a 54-44 lead into halftime.
Top Game Performances
 
Houston   Phoenix
Luis Scola 16 Scoring Channing Frye 21
Goran Dragic 11 Assists Steve Nash 13
Chase Budinger 7 Rebounds Channing Frye 10
Kyle Lowry 2 Free Throws Made Marcin Gortat 6
Chase Budinger 2 Steals Channing Frye 2
Samuel Dalembert 1 Blocks Channing Frye 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Houston 96 48.8 8-16 4-6 26 44 2 7 12
Phoenix 89 47.3 9-27 10-16 25 31 3 6 13
Upcoming Games
  • Phoenix will play their next game on the road against Sacramento. The Suns have a W/L % of .364 after a win and .467 after a loss.
  • Houston will play their next game on the road against Golden State. The Rockets have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .583 after a loss.