DENVER, April 9 (Ticker) -- Joe Johnson scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Phoenix Suns ran away from the Denver Nuggets, 98-78, and toward clinching a playoff berth.

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With Houston's loss to Portland, Phoenix (41-36) took a 1 1/2-game lead in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Suns missed the playoffs last season after 13 consecutive appearances.

"It's tough for us right now," Johnson said. "Even though we're in the driver's seat for the eighth spot, our last couple of games are going to be tough. We had to come out and give a great effort. ... I think it's big for us to come out and play hard and get a victory and for (Houston) to lose. We just got to keep it up and keep working hard."

All-Star Shawn Marion scored 27 points for the Suns, who outscored the Nuggets, 31-16, in the fourth quarter.

"This one was kind of slow at first," Marion said. "We kept our focus and maintained what we were doing. It was one of those grind wins."

The Nuggets scored only 16 points in the second quarter as well, going without a basket for the final 6:15.

"We did not make enough shots during the game," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We got a lot of good baskets at the basket. The last two games against Phoenix, they seemed to have brought out the worst in our team."

Juwan Howard led the Nuggets with 15 points but shot only 4-of-16 from the field. The Nuggets shot 32 percent (25-of-79) after setting a team record for futility by shooting 26 percent against the Suns on April 1.

The Nuggets were within five points after three quarters but could get no closer.

"Scary game, glad it's over," Suns coach Frank Johnson said. "They were just hanging around, hanging around. As you know, this team, when they're hanging around, that's when they usually pull out some wins, but we had a big fourth quarter defensively. For a long time we held them to single digits."

The Nuggets scored only four points in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter and finished with fewer than 80 for the 30th time this season.

"It was just one of those nights for myself and the team," Howard said. "Shooting such a low percentage makes it even tougher to beat a team like Phoenix."

The Nuggets played without flu-ridden center Marcus Camby.

Denver (17-61) lost its fourth consecutive game but is still 1 1/2 games ahead of league-worst Cleveland.