INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Steve Nash thought the game changed when the Phoenix Suns started controlling rebounds and loose balls.
The Indiana Pacers thought the problem was not controlling Nash.
Marcin Gortat had 23 points and eight rebounds, Nash added 12 points and tied his season high with 17 assists, and the Suns beat the Pacers 113-111 on Friday night.
“We let Steve Nash control the tempo of the game,” Pacers center Roy Hibbert said. “We did not do a very good job of controlling them.”
Nash leads the league with more than 11 assists per game. He’s had 17 assists in three other games this season.
Grant Hill scored 22 points for the Suns, who never gave up the lead in the fourth quarter.
For Nash, it was just a matter of playing better in the second half and doing the little things necessary to pull off the win.
“I think we came up with a lot of loose balls, some hustle plays,” Nash said. “Got stops, rebounds, gave us a chance to get out and get some baskets. I thought we were just tougher in the third quarter than in the first half.”
Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry gave credit to his defense for being able to stay ahead of the Pacers.
“We did a good job defensively in the second half,” Gentry said. “We didn’t come up with a lot of the 50-50 balls in the first half. We came up with defensive stops, but we still end up fumbling the ball or they come up with it. Thought we did a real good job with that in the second half.”
Danny Granger had 28 points and Roy Hibbert finished with 19 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who played their second game in a series of three games in three days.
They beat the Washington Wizards, 85-83, on Thursday and go on the road to face Milwaukee on Saturday.
The Suns are in the middle of a four-game road trip and avoided heading into the last game of the trip in Cleveland on Sunday with three losses.
“It would have been real tough to go 0-for-4 on this trip or go into the Cleveland game 0-and-3 and put all that pressure on ourselves,” Nash said. “We got some good feelings back. Got some confidence back. So we’ve got a big game in Cleveland we’ve got to win.”
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