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Suns edge Pacers

Mar 24, 2012 - 4:15 AM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Steve Nash dished out 17 assists and Marcin Gortat had 23 points and eight rebounds as the Phoenix Suns edged the Indiana Pacers, 113-111, on Friday.

Nash added 12 points and Grant Hill netted 22 points for the Suns, who have won five of their last seven games. Phoenix had lost its last two contests coming in.

Danny Granger led all scorers with 28 points for the Pacers, who had won four of their last six contests. Roy Hibbert added 19 points and seven rebounds and Paul George tallied 15 points.

Nash found Gortat underneath for an easy layup, and then dished to Channing Frye a possession later, who swished a left-wing triple for a 109-103 Phoenix advantage with 28 seconds to go.

Granger went in for a layup on Indiana's ensuing possession, but Nash nailed a pair of free throws to put Phoenix back up by six.

Granger then knocked down a three-pointer and Frye gave the hosts life after missing both foul shots with 17 seconds to play.

Granger drew a foul on Jared Dudley and made a pair from the line, making it 111-110 with 11 seconds remaining.

Nash answered with two from the stripe, setting up a frantic finish.

Dudley elected to foul George with 1.7 seconds to play and he made the first free throw before purposely missing the second. George got his own rebound, but couldn't bank home his follow-up attempt to seal the victory for Phoenix.

"We got back to playing good basketball," said Hill. "We didn't defend as well as we'd have liked, but we executed."

Granger netted 11 first-quarter points while Hibbert added 10 as the Pacers took a 31-28 lead after one. Indiana shot a blistering 70.6 percent in the opening frame.

The Pacers closed the first half on a 9-0 push to take their largest lead, 61-54, entering the break. Hibbert, who had 16 first-half points to lead all scorers, had four points during the flurry.

With the contest tied at 74 in the third, the Suns closed the period on a 12-5 run, taking an 86-79 lead into the fourth. Nash, who dished out seven assists in the quarter, netted four points during the burst.

With Indiana trailing, 101-94, with 4:06 remaining in the fourth, the hosts used a 9-3 flurry to pull within 104-103 with 1:09 left.

"It was frustrating," said George. "This was a game we felt like we should have won."

Game Notes

Michael Redd had 10 points off the bench for Phoenix, while Tyler Hansbrough tallied 13 points off the pine for Indiana...Phoenix scored 17 points off 16 turnovers and shot 51.9 percent from the floor...The Pacers tallied 12 points off 13 Phoenix giveaways.