The Suns have not lost at home to the Bucks since February 21, 1987, and have won all nine games against Milwaukee at America West Arena since 1992.
Marbury shot 8-of-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range while hitting 6-of-7 free throws in 30 minutes. His 22 first-half points were the most by a Phoenix player in a half this season.
 Phoenix's Stephon Marbury was stellar with 24 points. Barry Gossage NBAE/Getty Images |
"We got it going and we were attacking the basket on the offensive end," Hardaway added. "And on the defensive end, we played great team defense."
Hardaway went 10-of-19 from the field, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out seven assists in 41 minutes.
Rodney Rogers added 18 points in 19 minutes off the bench for the Suns, who handed coach Scott Skiles his 100th career victory. He took over for Danny Ainge in 1999.
"We just had to come out and jump on them and try to get an early lead," Rogers said. "We didn't think we were going to get up that much, but picked it up and got a lead."
"We started 0-3, now we're 8-4," Skiles said. "Clearly, we've gotten better, and then we got to keep going."
The Bucks have lost two straight after winning five in a row. They dropped a 104-85 decision at the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday after leading at halftime.
All three losses by Milwaukee have been by 16 points or more. Wednesday's game was its largest margin of defeat.
"We played a good game last night, and tonight, we didn't play a good game," Bucks coach George Karl said. "Phoenix is playing good, and for the last two or three games, they've had great energy."
Glenn Robinson led the Bucks with 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting and Michael Redd added 14 off the bench, going 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
"We couldn't control the ball, that's the big thing," Robinson said. "Last night, it was rebounding. Tonight, it was controlling the ball."
The Suns trailed 20-19 with just under 11 seconds left in the first quarter when Shawn Marion his a 3-pointer from the right sideline, putting Phoenix ahead for good. The Suns outscored Milwaukee 36-21 in the second and led by 17 at the break.
Marion scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
Phoenix shot 48 percent (43-of-88) from the floor and hit 8-of-12 from the line.
Milwaukee shot 42 percent (36-of-85) but made just five of its 17 3-point attempts. It was 7-of-11 from the line and committed 14 turnovers, leading to 26 points.