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Stoudemire scores season-high to lead Suns past Atlanta

Feb 26, 2007 - 3:16 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Amare Stoudemire showed the Atlanta Hawks what a healthy All-Star looks like.

Stoudemire scored a season-high 43 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to lead the Phoenix Suns past the Hawks, 115-106.

Shawn Marion scored 21 points and Steve Nash chipped in 14 and 13 assists as the Suns exacted their revenge for a Nash-less 120-111 home loss to Atlanta on February 9.

"He was real good tonight," Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said about Stoudemire. "He is as good as any big man in this league. He's relentless. He's beautiful to watch. He's a nightmare to defend.

"With Nash on the floor, he's relentless. He makes play after play."

The Hawks held a 93-92 lead with 9:56 to play, but the Suns went on an 11-4 run capped off by Leandro Barbosa's 3-pointer to take a 103-97 lead with six minutes to play.

"We just couldn't stop the high pick-and-roll," Atlanta forward Josh Smith said. "The whole night it was just beating us up. Every time we'd come back, they'd go to the same play.

"We couldn't stop them because they had so many outside threats. We didn't want to give up any easy buckets, like layups and dunks, and that helped them open up outside."

Nash, Marion and Stoudemire took over down the stretch, scoring four points apiece in the final 3 1/2 minutes to put the game away.

"It was great performance by Amare (Stoudemire)," Nash said. "When he's playing like that, you just have to keep feeding him and get him the ball as much as possible.

"We hung in there and did what it took to get the win. We had to hang in there because they made some plays difficult for us."

Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 28 points and Marvin Williams added 23 and 10 boards.

Anthony Johnson, acquired from the Dallas Mavericks at the trade deadline, made his Hawks debut, scoring 17 points and dishing out five assists in 34 minutes.

"He was what we thought he would be," Woodson said of Anthony Johnson. "He's capable of running your ballclub, he's capable of defending and capable of making his shots. I thought he proved that tonight."

Phoenix has won four straight since the return of Nash from a shoulder injury.

"I'm getting better," Nash said. "I feel like my shoulder's getting better. Hopefully, in a week, I'll be fully back."

Boris Diaw missed his sixth straight game for the Suns with back spasms.