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Suns stay hot, down Nuggets despite Melo's 20-20 night

Nov 16, 2010 - 5:44 AM Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Hakim Warrick finished with a game-high 21 points and Steve Nash and Channing Frye both contributed 15 points as Phoenix topped Denver, 100-94, at US Airways Center.

Grant Hill added 14 points and Jason Richardson supplied 11 points and six rebounds for the Suns, who have now won three straight and five of their last six.

"I think guys are starting to get comfortable playing with each other and it has shown in the last couple games we've played," Richardson said. "We have to continue to grow as a team."

Carmelo Anthony finished with 20 points and 22 rebounds and Arron Afflalo added 15 points for the Nuggets, who have lost three of their last four.

Nene, Al Harrington and Chauncey Billups all added 14 points in the loss.

"This is a game we should have won and we let it slip by us," Harrington said. "We've got to get better closing out games. There was a loophole in our defense and they attacked it and it was enough for them to win the game. It's frustrating, we found a recipe that would help us win the game and we went away from it."

Denver held a 22-20 lead after a back-and-forth opening 12 minutes of play.

Nene supplied 11 points in the second quarter and the Nuggets shot 16-of-26 from the field to take a 58-46 lead heading to the intermission.

Richardson's alley-oop dunk at the 6:16 mark of the third cut the Denver lead to 64-59, and Warrick hit a bank shot with under a minute and half left to trim the Nuggets' lead to two, 69-67. Denver responded with a 5-0 run to end the quarter for a 76-69 lead heading into the final stanza.

Afflalo hit a deep three off a Josh Childress turnover at 10:16 to give Denver an eight-point lead, 81-73, but from there the Suns surged over the next 8 1/2 minutes to take over the game.

Warrick hit a short jumper at 7:37 that tied the game at 81. Harrington's 1- of-2 showing from the line regained the Denver lead, but the Suns responded with a 17-7 run -- capped by a Hedo Turkoglu three -- to take a nine point advantage, 98-89.

Billups hit a three with 2:19 left to cut the margin to 98-92, but Warrick made two from the line with just over a minute to play to seal the win.

Game Notes

Phoenix has won four straight meetings...Childress finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for the Suns...Phoenix hit 20-of-25 free throws, whereas Denver was 17-of-25...Phoenix will now head on a four-game road trip...The Suns have won 12 straight home games against the Nuggets, their longest active win streak against a Western Conference foe...It is also Denver's second longest active road losing streak against one opponent, trailing the 14 straight it has dropped in Detroit...The Nuggets last win in Phoenix came April 7, 2004.