RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- After sitting out the final minutes of a game the
night before for what Phoenix coach Scott Skiles perceived as too
little effort, Clifford Robinson made sure he stayed on the floor
against the Houston Rockets.
|  | | Houston's Shandon Anderson soars past Rodney Rogers in the first half. Anderson scored nine points; Rogers had 18 for the Suns. |
It was good for the Suns that he did.
Robinson scored a season-high 30 points and the Suns withstood a
19-point fourth quarter by Cuttino Mobley to beat the Rockets
104-99 Sunday night.
"I was talking to the staff saying he hadn't shot well this
year, and tonight he goes out and gets 30 points," Skiles said.
"I never really worry about him. He's the kind of player you don't
get too concerned with, because he brings it every day and every
night."
Mobley, a reserve guard who finished with 27 points, got the
Rockets to 98-95 on a short jumper in the lane with 46 seconds
remaining.
But he fouled out 18 seconds later, and Robinson made two free
throws to give Phoenix breathing room.
Mobley had 33 points in a season-opening loss to Minnesota, and
another big game in another defeat dampened his spirits.
"We can't win when we play bad as a team like that," he said.
"They pay me to come in and give a spark, and I am not doing
that."
Rodney Rogers had 18 points as the Suns won their third straight
after an opening loss, and Jason Kidd had 18 points and nine
assists.
Steve Francis scored a season-high 24 points for Houston, which
lost for the third time in four games this season.
Francis made a layup with 20 seconds left -- trimming Houston's
deficit to 100-97 -- and was fouled by Ruben Garces. But Francis
missed the free throw and Garces got the rebound.
That led to two more free throws by Robinson and Kidd in the
closing seconds.
"The last few games I haven't been getting to the free-throw
line as much as I would like," said Robinson, who made all 12 foul
shots. "Tonight, I just decided to try to be a little more
aggressive and take the ball to the basket and get some
opportunities."
The Suns took an 80-66 lead on Rogers' layup 1:20 into the
fourth quarter, but Mobley had all the Rockets' points in a 10-2
spurt over the next two minutes, and Houston got to 84-79 on Kenny
Thomas' 3-pointer with 7:18 left in the game.
Robinson had 10 points in the first quarter, and the Suns led
most of the way without being able to put any distance between
themselves and the Rockets.
It was more of the same in the second, as the teams battled
through eight lead changes.
But Houston went cold after Francis made a 3-pointer with 3:38
left in the quarter, and Phoenix finished with a 10-0 surge capped
by Kidd's buzzer-beating 30-footer to take a 51-43 halftime lead.
"That put us up by eight," Kidd said. "It was a big shot for
me personally, because I didn't think I was going to make a basket
all night the way it was going. But it gave us momentum, and we
took it from there."
Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said Kidd was the key.
"He epitomizes what a winner is all about," Tomjanovich said.
"He just plays the game and gets lost in the game. He just can
help you in so many ways."
Game notes
Garces, a rookie, won a game against Denver the night
before with a tip-in. ... The game was televised live in Latin
America through a Houston video feed. Miami-based NBA Latin America
merged the feed with sportscasts in Spanish and Portuguese and
relayed them -- the first time the league has handled a game that
way. ... Suns F Tom Gugliotta has a strength test scheduled Monday
on his surgically reconstructed left knee, but doesn't plan on
game-style workouts for about three weeks. ... Francis and
backcourt teammate Shandon Anderson collided going for a loose ball
with 2:27 left in the third quarter, and Francis had to leave to
have a cut on his chin examined before returning. The Rockets also
lost F Walt Williams earlier in the quarter with a sprained right
knee.
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NBA Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Phoenix 104
Houston 99
LA Lakers 108
LA Clippers 103
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