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Humphries' tip try waved off, as Suns hold off Nets in OT

Mar 1, 2011 - 6:33 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - For the second consecutive night, Channing Frye's late basket gave Phoenix the win. This time his three-pointer from the top of the circle gave the Suns a 104-103 overtime victory over the New Jersey Nets.

However, unlike his buzzer beater to top the Pacers in overtime, this one with 6.6 seconds left came with a bit more drama.

Deron Williams attempted a bank shot in the final second, and as Kris Humphries redirected the tip-in towards the basket, the clock ran out. The shot appeared to be in unison with the final buzzer, and the referees had to go to a video replay to call off the basket.

"I didn't get a chance to look at it," Humphries said of his last second tip. "But from what I heard [the referees] couldn't tell so they had to go with the ruling on the floor."

Frye finished with seven points and eight rebounds, and despite Steve Nash's 10 points and 15 assists, the majority of Phoenix's scoring came from the bench.

Marcin Gortat scored a team-high 17 points while Hakim Warrick added 16 points and seven boards in the win, the Suns' fourth straight since returning from the All-Star break.

Brook Lopez paced New Jersey with a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony Morrow added 22 points, including 5-of-10 from long range, and Williams, who dealt with a cut on his left palm throughout the entire game, scored 13 and dished out 18 assists in the loss.

"It's starting to mesh," Lopez said. "I thought we played pretty well against the Suns."

The Nets have dropped six straight since before the break and will have three days off before a historic series with Toronto.

Next up for New Jersey is a two-game series with the Raptors at London's O2 Arena. The back-to-back games will mark the first-ever regular season NBA games held in England. The significance comes as the Nets and Raptors are the only NBA franchises to have foreign owners.

Knotted at 96-96 entering the extra period, the teams traded the lead to open the stanza, and the second of two Lopez free throws and a Humphries tip-in at 1:46 gave New Jersey an 102-99 edge.

After a Suns timeout, Gortat's reverse layup made it a one-point game, and after both squads went a combined 0-for-4 from the field, Lopez made the first of two from the line to set up the last-second heroics.

The Suns took a 69-66 lead into the fourth, and just after the midpoint they widened their lead to nine, 86-77, on a Warrick slam. Just as they did all game, the Nets responded, methodically trimming their deficit into the final minute. Morrow knocked down an off-balance three-pointer with 10.7 seconds remaining, cutting the Suns' lead to 94-93.

New Jersey failed to foul on the next possession, which allowed Frye to get an open dunk to put Phoenix up 96-93. However, the Suns attempted to foul Morrow on the next possession, and as Nash was grabbing hold of the New Jersey guard, he was able to get up a three attempt, allowing him to make all three from the line to tie the game at 96-96 with 2.7 seconds remaining.

The miscues continued for the Suns as they failed to get the inbounds pass off in time, forcing a five second call and turnover, which allowed New Jersey one last shot for the win. After inbounding the ball to Sasha Vujacic at the top of the key, he failed to get the shot off, sending the game into overtime.

"The way we executed [down the stretch] is not [indicative of] a playoff team," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said.

The Suns held a 26-18 advantage in the final minute of the first, and Ben Uzoh's layup with 18.7 seconds remaining along with Vujacic's half court three at the buzzer cut the Phoenix lead to 26-23 after one. The Nets held strong in the second, holding their deficit to 52-51 at the half.

Both teams shot poorly in the third quarter as the Suns took a 69-66 lead into the fourth.

Game Notes

The Suns have won 16 of their last 22...Phoenix is now 3-0 on a six-game road trip that will feature visits to Boston, Milwaukee and Oklahoma City... Nash leads all NBA guards with 35 double-doubles this season and is tops in the league with 39 double-digit assist efforts...Phoenix is now 14-14 on the road and has won five-straight as the visitors...The Nets are 13-16 at home this season...Jordan Farmar missed the game for New Jersey with an ankle injury...The Suns defeated New Jersey, 118-109, in overtime on January 12 in Phoenix...Brook's twin brother Robin Lopez finished with 14 points in the win...Humphries scored 16 to go along with 15 rebounds in the loss.