The Basketball Diaries

Phoenix Suns 132 Denver Nuggets 117

Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of defense being played in this game, but that's generally the case when these two teams meet. After the Nuggets took a 70-51 lead with them to the locker room for halftime, the Suns came out in the 2nd half and outscored Denver 81-47 in the second half. That's right, Phoenix scored 81 friggin points in the second half. 35 came in the third quarter, and an astounding 46 more points followed in the fourth quarter. Amare Stoudemire did most of the damage with 41 points and 14 rebounds, while Steve Nash scored 36 points and handed out 8 assists. Even Shaq got involved, going for 20 and 12 as the Suns knocked the Nuggets out of the 8th spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

Dallas Mavericks 93 Los Angeles Clippers 86

I'm still convinced the Mavs are going to fall out of the playoffs thanks to the loss of Dirk Nowitzki, but they held the collapse off for one more day at least with a win over the lowly Clippers on Monday. Jason Kidd had 27 points, Jason Terry had 20, and Josh Howard scored 12 of his 25 points in the final quarter to help Dallas hold the Clippers off. "This was a big win on the road because of the position we're in," Kidd said after his highest-scoring game with the Mavericks. "Everybody responded against a team that plays hard. With Dirk out, I'm just looking to be more aggressive and look for my shot. The coach and my teammates have been encouraging me to be aggressive and maybe score a little bit more than in the past." The win combined with Denver's loss put the Mavericks a game ahead of the Nuggets in the standings.

Elsewhere...

• Pacers 105 Heat 85
• Raptors 104 Bobcats 100
• Hawks 116 Grizzlies 99
• Jazz 129 Wizards 87