Suns 101, Raptors 100

The Raptors brought in Hedo Turkoglu to be their closer. Sunday night he had a chance to put the Suns away but could not come through. He missed a 17 foot fade way as time expired to give the Suns their ninth victory of the year.

Amar’e Stoudemire had 30 point to lead Phoenix and won the battle between the elite power forwards in the league. Chris Bosh, who will also be available at the end of the year for free agency, had 25 of his own as the two battled all night.

The Suns got another major contribution from Channing Frye, who quietly has become a threat from downtown. He continued his hot shooting at home hitting six treys and pouring in 20 points.

The Raptors now fall to 5-5 and could not gain any ground on the suddenly struggling Celtics.

Stat of the Night: Steve Nash now has reached double digits in assists in 7 out of his 11 games this year, including 20 assists twice. Was Shaq clogging the lane that much?? I don’t know, but someone should ask LeBron.

Rockets 101, Lakers 91

Trevor Ariza and the Rockets held Kobe Bryant to 18 points on 5-20 shooting and beat Los Angeles Sunday night, 101-91.

Aaron Brooks exploded for 33 points and Houston got solid production from the bench. The Rockets second unit out scored L.A.’s bench 48-18, in a truly dominating performance by Houston.

The Lakers still seem to struggle every time they go up against the pesky Rockets. Earlier this year they squeaked out a one point victory but tonight they were no match for Houston’s defensive effort. The Lake Show are now at 7-3 and fall a game back on the Phoenix Suns for the Western Conference top spot.

Stat of the Night: Chase Budinger has been a nice surprise for the Rockets. Traded from the Pistons who drafted him 44^th overall in this year’s draft, the 6-7 rookie swingman with mad ups is averaging 9.3 ppg and nearly 4 rebounds. Is it to early to call him the best red head in the league? Sorry Scal…  you suck still.

-Sean