The Basketball Diaries

Phoenix Suns 121 Indiana Pacers 117

Amare Stoudemire went and had himself a night in Indianapolis on Tuesday. Stoudemire scored 42 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and helped the Suns finish off the Pacers. Phoenix blew a 15-point lead in the 4th quarter, and trailed Indiana 117-115 with a little over a minute left before Steve Nash hit a three pointer that gave Phoenix a lead they never gave back. "It was just a relief that we could make the plays down the stretch and get the stops when it counted, but not a very gratifying win," Nash said. Nash finished with 18 points and 17 assists. Jermaine O'Neal led Indiana with 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Sacramento Kings 117 Utah Jazz 107

Basketball is a pretty simple game really. Generally, while playing, you don't want to give up 43 points in the 4th quarter to your opponent. You don't win very often when that happens, and the Jazz were reminded of that simple fact on Tuesday night. John Salmons took the game over for Sacramento after the Kings lost their leading scorer, Kevin Martin, at the end of the third quarter. Salmons scored 13 straight points for the Kings to give Sacto a lead they wouldn't relinquish. "Five or six times in a row I went right to him and he made something happen," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "You put him in the spots where he can play and he can usually make it happen." The win is nice for the Kings, but they're going to be without Kevin Martin for the next month as he suffered a sprained groin.

Elsewhere...

• Pistons 106 Hawks 95
• Nets 100 Cavs 79
• Lakers 116 TWolves 95
• Bucks 87 Clippers 78