ON FIRE, SUNS UPSET NUGGETS

Amare Stoudemire poured in 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, as the Phoenix Suns dominated the Denver Nuggets, 101-85, at US Airways Center. Grant Hill added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Suns, who have won six of seven. Channing Frye tallied 16 points and five boards off the bench. Jason Richardson and Goran Dragic each chipped in 12 points for the victors. "I think we came out and played great defensively," Stoudemire said. "The second unit did a great job out there with the zone defense and kind of threw Denver off guard there for awhile and we just kept the momentum going. We came out and played great and I think we held those guys less than 90 points - which was a key for us, with them being the second-best scoring team in the league - so we did a great job defensively." Chauncey Billups finished with 21 points for the Nuggets, who have dropped back-to-back games for the first time since a season-high three-game skid from December 25-28. Carmelo Anthony ended with 17 points and seven rebounds, while J.R. Smith added 16 points off the bench in defeat.