Phoenix ? Shawn Marion scored 21 points and Amare Stoudemire had 20 points and 14 rebounds to help the Phoenix Suns rout the Indiana Pacers 124-89 on Sunday night for their sixth straight victory and NBA-best 30th of the season, one more than they won all of last year.
Phoenix’s 30-4 start ties the 1959-60 Boston Celtics and 1971-72 Milwaukee Bucks for the best start for a team with four losses in NBA history.
Joe Johnson added 15, Quentin Richardson 14, and Steve Nash, Steven Hunter and Maceij Lampe each scored 10 in the Suns’ highest-scoring and most one-sided victory of the season.
Next up for Phoenix is a home showdown with Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat on Tuesday night — a matchup of conference leaders.
Phoenix never trailed, blowing open a 22-point lead in the first quarter, 25 in the second and 38 in the third and 42 in the fourth.
The Pacers fell to 0-3 on their road trip with a stop left in Memphis. Indiana has lost those three — against San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix — by a combined 68 points.
Jamaal Tinsley scored 21 and Jermaine O’Neal 16 for the Pacers.
The Suns, home after a three-game road trip, had the pedal to the floor from the start, opening up a 15-3 lead on Marion’s 3-pointer, then 22-5 on Stoudemire’s fastbreak stuff with 5:44 left in the quarter.
Phoenix led by 22 twice in the first quarter, the last time at 31-9 on Richardson’s turnaround 10-footer from the baseline with 1:56 left.
The Suns got the lead to 25 late in the second quarter, the last time at 65-40 after Nash’s 19-footer with 22 seconds to play. Tinsley’s layup made it 65-42 at the break.
Phoenix started the second half with a 10-2 run to go up 75-44 on Marion’s 13-foot turnaround jumper with 8:43 left in the third quarter.
Moments later, Marion blocked Reggie Miller’s shot, then floated in for an acrobatic layup to make it 77-47. Hunter’s rebound dunk put the Suns up 97-59 after three quarters.
Notes: The teams play again at Indiana on Friday. … Phoenix had win streaks of nine, 11 and five games after its first three losses. … The Pacers are 1-7 against Western Conference teams on the road. … The Suns’ previous highest-scoring game this season was 122 (twice) and biggest victory margin was 32.
