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Monday, Mar. 26 9:00pm ET
Suns take some revenge on Lakers

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

PHOENIX (AP) -- Not even Shaquille O'Neal can carry his team every night.

Shawn Marion
Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion shot 12-for-18 and scored 27 points.

For the first time in three games since Kobe Bryant sprained his ankle last week against Milwaukee, O'Neal's efforts weren't enough.

Shawn Marion scored 27 points and Jason Kidd had 22 points and 11 rebounds as the Suns snapped their seven-game losing streak to Los Angeles by beating the Lakers 104-83 Monday night.

"It's not a championship or anything of that matter, but the main thing is we played well," Kidd said. "We played great defense and everybody touched the ball and we made shots when we had to.

"Even though they didn't have Kobe, we still have to play, and they've still got one of the best players in the world over there."

O'Neal had 27 points and 12 rebounds, but only two other Lakers -- Rick Fox with 13 and Derek Fisher with 10 -- were in double figures.

Bryant had 38 points in a Dec. 28 victory over the Suns and 32 in an 85-83 win Feb. 7, but O'Neal thought having to play less than 24 hours after beating Sacramento on the road was a bigger factor.

"They had a lot more energy than we did, and it was just probably one of those days for us -- tired legs, banged-up bodies. We didn't have any energy, any enthusiasm," O'Neal said.

The last Suns win over the Lakers was on March 24, 1999. Until Monday, Suns coach Scott Skiles was 0-5 against them.

"The last umpteen times we've beaten them, and they're well aware of it," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They came out for some blood tonight."

Tom Gugliotta had 14 points and Cliff Robinson 13 as Phoenix extended its winning streak to four games.

Phoenix broke to a 62-40 lead when Kidd, who also had nine assists, made a jumper 20 seconds into the third quarter. But the Suns made only 8 of their next 20 shots the rest of the period and Los Angeles began to narrow the score.

The Lakers closed to 76-63 on two free throws by O'Neal with 1:54 left in the third and went into the fourth quarter trailing 80-67 when O'Neal made a putback just before the buzzer.

Devean George sank a jumper at the start of the fourth, but Kidd started and finished a 9-2 spurt with a pair of 16-foot jumpers, sending Phoenix to an 89-71 lead with 7:05 remaining.

About a minute later, Marion grabbed an offensive rebound that led to his alley-oop dunk for a 91-73 lead.

The Suns came out running, using the fast break to keep O'Neal from setting up on defense. Phoenix led for all but 12 seconds of the first quarter and dominated the second.

"The key to the game was that Shaq had a lot of touches, but only 15 shots," Skiles said. "Everybody did a good job of collapsing on him."

The Suns got their first double-digit lead when Mario Elie nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 6:18 left in the first half, sending the Suns ahead 49-29, and took a 58-38 lead on a three-point play by Marion with 12 seconds to go before intermission.

Mike Penberthy made two free throws for the Lakers, but Marion, who had 11 points in the second quarter, restored the 20-point lead with an 8-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Game notes
The Lakers are 9-9 in the second game of a back-to-back. ... The Lakers are 3-1 with Brian Shaw starting for Bryant at shooting guard. ... The Suns are 40-13 when they keep an opponent from scoring 100 points. ... The Suns outrebounded the Lakers, the NBA's top rebounding team, 44-35.

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RECAPS
Philadelphia 90
Milwaukee 78

Denver 109
Chicago 104

Phoenix 104
LA Lakers 83

Dallas 98
Utah 90

Portland 104
LA Clippers 96

Seattle 104
Cleveland 86

New York 89
Golden State 87


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