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Suns welcome Pistons to town

Mar 16, 2012 - 3:12 PM (Sports Network) - The Phoenix Suns will try to climb back to the .500 mark for the first time in more than two months when they take on the much-improved Detroit Pistons.

The Suns have been playing excellent basketball recently and won for the fourth time in five games Thursday in Los Angeles, rallying to top the Clippers 91-87 despite resting veterans Steve Nash and Grant Hill.

Shannon Brown scored a season-high 21 points in that one, including a late fourth-quarter trey for Phoenix's first lead since the opening period, the go- ahead free-throws, and another pair of freebies to put the game out of reach as Phoenix stunned the Clips.

"It was a team win. I just want to come out and help the team," Brown said.

Channing Frye finished with 12 points, Jared Dudley added 11 and Markieff Morris donated 10 in the win. All three contributed six rebounds for Phoenix, which has won seven of its last nine overall.

The Suns scored 27 points in the fourth while holding Los Angeles to 12 as they battled back from a 17-point deficit.

"A great win for us. It was satisfying to win without Steve or Grant," said Suns head coach Alvin Gentry. "Shannon Brown did a great job for us. We kept plugging away. We did a good job executing at the end."

Nash and Hill are expected back in the lineup tonight as Phoenix attempts to get back to .500 for the first time since it was 4-4 on Jan. 8.

The Pistons, meanwhile, improved to 1-1 on a five-game road trip with a 124-112 win in Sacramento on Wednesday.

Rodney Stuckey dropped in 35 points in that one as Detroit overcame a slow start to down the Kings. Greg Monroe added 32 points and 11 rebounds, while Tayshaun Prince finished with 28 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Pistons, who won for the fourth time in five games.

"It's not necessarily one guy, but Rodney has played very, very well and because of that, it frees things up for other guys," Pistons head coach Lawrence Frank said.

The Pistons also snapped a 17-game road losing streak against Western Conference teams. The last time Detroit won on the road against the West was a 100-94 decision against the Kings on November 14, 2010.

The Pistons started the season a dismal 4-20 but have rebounded to go 12-7 since. They are, however, just 4-16 on the road and have lost five of their last six against Phoenix.