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Tuesday, Mar. 6 9:00pm ET
Marion shoots 10-for-12 in first game back

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DENVER (AP) – Over the past two seasons, the Denver Nuggets have had minimal success against the Phoenix Suns. Without their top two players, the Nuggets had little chance Tuesday night.

Shawn Marion, playing for the first time in 10 days, scored 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting as the Suns beat depleted Denver 93-82.

Tom Gugliotta added 25 points and Jason Kidd had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists to help the Suns defeat Denver for the seventh straight time since the opening game of the 1999-2000 season.

The Nuggets, who have lost four straight and 15 of 19, were without starting point guard Nick Van Exel (bruised knee) and All-Star forward Antonio McDyess (dislocated kneecap). The two average a combined 38.8 points, 15.6 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game.

"It was like a gift," Gugliotta said. "Those two guys can put up big numbers and Van Exel is great in the fourth quarter. We knew we had to jump on them anyway, but we were thankful that they had two less weapons."

Suns coach Scott Skiles had little sympathy for the Nuggets. Since Skiles took over as Phoenix's coach on Dec. 13, 1999, he has dealt with long-term injuries to Kidd, Marion, Gugliotta and Anfernee Hardaway.

"We are always without somebody," Skiles said. "I can honestly say I don't feel real sorry for teams when they don't have their key players because we spent most of the last year and a half playing without key players almost all the time."

Robert Pack, starting in place of Van Exel, led the Nuggets with 22 points and George McCloud had 17.

"I think the effort was probably the best we could have given under the circumstances," McCloud said. "Anytime you are missing your two leaders, it's going to be tough. There isn't a moral victory in this league. You want to win games, and we fell short again."

Marion, who missed three games because of a concussion and a sprained right wrist, hit 10 of his first 11 shots as the Suns took control of the game early.

Marion had six points in a 10-0 run that gave Phoenix a 26-point lead midway through the third quarter. Denver got within 11 in the game's final minutes while the Suns starters watched from the bench.

"I don't know what chance we had to win this game realistically, but we played hard," Nuggets coach Dan Issel said.

The loss pushed the Nuggets to the brink of playoff extinction. Denver (30-33) has fallen from the seventh spot in the West to eight games behind eighth-place Minnesota. Phoenix (36-23) is percentage points ahead of the Timberwolves.

Without a prominent scoring threat, the Nuggets were overmatched from the start as the Suns used runs of 17-4 and 14-4 to build an 18-point halftime lead.

Phoenix shot 54 percent in the first half. Gugliotta was 7-of-10 and scored 17 points in 14 minutes and Marion had 12.

"I was tired at first. This elevation got to me, but I was all right," Marion said. "I don't have my legs like I want. I couldn't jump like I wanted to. It will come back, though."

Game notes
After scoring a season-low 29 points in the second half of a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night, Denver scored 35 in the first half Tuesday. ... Phoenix has held its opponent under 50 percent shooting in 21 straight. ... Denver has scored fewer than 90 points in four straight. ... Skiles improved to 7-0 against the Nuggets. He also has not lost to Atlanta (4-0), Chicago (2-0) or Cleveland (2-0). ... Gugliotta, still recovering from knee surgery, scored 19 points and had 13 rebounds against the Nuggets on Saturday.

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RECAPS
Minnesota 95
Charlotte 89

New York 97
Indiana 83

Chicago 87
Cleveland 74

Phoenix 93
Denver 82

Sacramento 98
Toronto 91

Vancouver 105
Portland 97

San Antonio 101
Seattle 73

LA Lakers 97
Golden State 85


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