PHOENIX — Amare Stoudemire scored 26 points, Jared Dudley matched his career best with 19 and the Phoenix Suns sent the Los Angeles Lakers to their second loss in three games with a 118-103 rout on Monday night.
Kobe Bryant scored 34 for the Lakers but sat out the final 7:50 when the game was deemed out of reach by Coach Phil Jackson.
Steve Nash had 16 points and 13 assists and the Suns’ reserves outscored their Los Angeles counterparts 52-31.
Phoenix led by as many as 12 in the second quarter, 19 in the third and 22 in the fourth to improve to 12-2 at home.
BOBCATS 94, BUCKS 84
Gerald Wallace had 21 points and 14 rebounds and the host Charlotte Bobcats beat Milwaukee, a miserable performance for the Bucks that prompted Coach Scott Skiles to bench Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut. Flip Murray added 16 points for the Bobcats in a one-sided matchup of teams that figure to contend for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
GRIZZLIES 116, WIZARDS 111, OT
O.J. Mayo scored 28 points, Zach Randolph had six of his 23 points in overtime and host Memphis beat Washington. Marc Gasol finished with 20, and his two free throws with 9.5 seconds left extended the Memphis lead to 115-111. Randolph made two free throws with 0.3 seconds left, sending the game to overtime tied at 102. Mike Conley scored 22 for Memphis, which has won four consecutive at home.
THUNDER 105, NETS 89
Kevin Durant matched his season high with 40 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated host New Jersey, sending the Nets to their 10th consecutive loss. Former Net Nenad Krstic added 19 points and Russell Westbrook had 16 points and 10 assists as the Thunder won a season-high third consecutive game.
Sports, Pages 21 on 12/29/2009