By Mike Tulumello, for NBA.com
THE FACTS: The Phoenix Suns wish the Houston Rockets would keep their reserves on the bench.
The surging Rockets (16-11) got tremendous production off the bench in pulling away late from the Suns (11-15) Thursday night in Arizona, 96-89.
The Rockets' reserves outscored the Suns bench, 57-13, led by Patrick Patterson's 14. Also, Goran Dragic killed his old team with 11 points and 11 assists.
The Suns played the Rockets more or less even until the two teams went to their benches, then the Rockets took over.
"Our bench just played fantastic," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said.
Channing Frye had 21 points and 10 boards for the Suns. Steve Nash, just named to the All-Star Game, had 14 points and 13 assists.
QUOTABLE: "We went small and really did a nice job defensively."
-- Kevin McHale.
THE STAT: The Rockets outrebounded the Suns 55-41.
TURNING POINT: The Rockets, down 85-84, midway through the final quarter, got 3-pointers by Chase Budinger and Dragic to take a 90-85 lead. A steal and layup by Kyle Lowry to make it 94-89 with 1:40 left wrapped it up.
HOT: Nash hit all seven of his shots.
NOT: The Suns bench shot 5-for-22.
FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Suns reserves Ronnie Price and Hakim Warrick have fallen out of the rotation.
NOTABLE: At 38, Nash becomes the fourth player age 38-plus to make the All-Star team, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Karl Malone. Nash is averaging 15.1 points and an NBA-best 10.0 assists. He is shooting an astounding .559 from the field, best among NBA guards. He is also shooting 45.5 percent on 3-pointers, the second-highest mark of his career.
UP NEXT: For the Rockets, Sunday @ Golden State, Tuesday @ Memphis and Wednesday vs. Oklahoma City. For the Suns, Saturday @ Sacramento, Monday @ Golden State and Tuesday @ Denver.
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