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Rockets hold off Nash-less Suns

Mar 15, 2011 - 5:11 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Kevin Martin scored a game-high 23 points and Chuck Hayes registered a career-high 21 points to go along with nine rebounds, as the Houston Rockets held on for a 95-93 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Kyle Lowry donated 18 points and six boards for the Rockets, who snapped a two-game losing streak and are 8-3 over their last 11 games. Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill had 15 and 12 points, respectively.

"It was just a win we had to have," said Houston head coach Rick Adelman. "Fortunately at the end, he (Jared Dudley) missed a good look at it. Our guys hung in there. We gotta get a win where we can get it."

Vince Carter dropped 21 points, Josh Childress scored 15 and Marcin Gortat notched 12 points and eight boards for the Suns, who have dropped three games in a row. Grant Hill and Zabian Dowdell each tallied 11 points in the loss.

"It's too bad we didn't play the first half with a sense of urgency," said Carter. "We have to come out and play hard and in the second half we did a better job. It's disappointing with how we played as a team."

The Suns were without All-Star guard Steve Nash for a second straight game because of pelvic instability.

Phoenix had a chance to win it with 2.9 seconds left when Dudley had a wide open three-pointer but clanked it off the front of the rim.

That last-second chance was set up by a fourth-quarter rally by the Suns. Trailing by 10 at the start of the quarter, Phoenix pulled within two, 81-79, with 5:47 left thanks to a eight-point burst. Carter and Mickael Pietrus banged back-to-back three-pointers to finish the spurt and the game was close the rest of the way out.

The Suns tied it twice, including Childress' putback jam with 1:21 left, knotting it at 91. But on the other end of the court, Lowry drained a long jumper.

Houston had a chance to put the game away from the free throw line, however, Hayes made just one of four chances. His only make extended it to a three- point game, 94-91, with 24.2 ticks left.

Gortat's dunk cut it back to one and then Budinger hit just 1-of-2 free throws to push it back to two and set up Dudley's last-second missed shot.

The Rockets scored 10 of the first 12 points and took a 27-16 lead after 12 minutes. Houston remained ahead all throughout the second quarter, pushing it to 13 on Lowry's long jumper and held a 50-42 lead at the break.

Houston kept its separation from Phoenix behind Martin's 11 points. He drained a three-pointer and stole the ball for a breakaway dunk with 4 1/2 minutes left to keep the Rockets up by 14. They took a 74-64 edge into the final frame.

Game Notes

The Suns had a seven-game winning streak against Houston snapped with the loss...The Rockets improved to 18-14 at home. They will welcome the Bobcats, Celtics, Jazz and Warriors to finish out the residency...The Suns shot 45.5 percent from the field while the Rockets finished 41.2 percent...Hayes previous career-high was 16 points against Dallas on January 27.