Marbury matched a season high with 33 points as the Suns held off the Houston Rockets, 97-91.
On Sunday, Phoenix surrendered 78 points in the second half of a 133-101 loss to Sacramento. But Marbury stepped up down the stretch on Wednesday, scoring eight of the Suns' final 11 points.
"I was real disappointed in my play in the last game in Sacramento," Marbury said. "My mind-set was to try and come out and get guys open shots and be as aggressive as possible.
 Stephon Marbury stepped up big after Shawn Marion was injured, netting 11 fourth-quarter points. Bill Baptist NBAE/Getty Images |
Marbury's layup put Phoenix ahead for good, 87-86, with 1:52 to play and Rodney Rogers nailed a 3-pointer less than a minute later to extend the lead to 92-86.
Rogers finished with just seven points on 2-of-9 shooting. But he led the team with eight rebounds.
"It was big," Rogers said. "I couldn't get a shot during the whole game and the basket came at a big time for us. It was good to get the win. I wasn't shooting well and I had to play well and help the team with my defense and rebounding. I had to stay focused and then I got the opportunity to knock down the big three at the end."
The ending resembled Phonenix's 111-104 overtime triumph in Utah on November 30, a game in which Marbury also had 33 points and Rogers made a clinching 3-pointer.
After losing four of their previous five games, the Suns started slowly. They shot 33 percent (7-of-21) in the first quarter and trailed 18-8 after Kelvin Cato's dunk with 4:44 to go.
Coach Scott Skiles grew impatient and quickly went to his bench.
"We appeared not to have any energy early," Skiles explained. "I made up my mind not to sit through that again. I will look at changing our starting lineup. I'm looking at all options. All guys on the bench have potential to be there at the jump ball."
But the Rockets cooled off, missing their next six shots. They finally scored on Moochie Norris' 18-footer with 17.9 seconds left and carried a 20-15 lead into the second quarter.
Phoenix got hot in the period, shooting a torried 73 percent (11-of-15) to take a 47-44 halftime lead. Shawn Marion's 3-pointer as time expired put the Suns ahead.
Marion had just 12 points in 16 minutes before leaving in the third quarter with a cut near his left eye that required six stitches.
Houston, which snapped a 15-game losing streak on Saturday against Milwaukee, was led by Cuttino Mobley's 31 points.
The Rockets, who tied a club record with 17 3-pointers in their last game, shot 13-of-20 from the arc and 41 percent (36-of-87) overall.
"Hopefully, I want everybody to realize that with Milwaukee and then with this one, that every game isn't going to be the same," Mobley said. "There are different things we should have done. The more experience we have, the better we will be."