
The Phoenix Suns won their fourth consecutive game to begin the season, rallying past the Miami Heat 104-96 on Tuesday night in a battle of undefeated teams.
The Suns outscored host Miami 29-15 in the fourth quarter at American Airlines Arena to earn the victory in their first stop on a seven-day, five-game road trip that also will take them to Orlando, Boston, Washington and Philadelphia.
Steve Nash, who scored a game-high 30 points, became the Suns' career leader in three-point field goals. In swishing four shots from beyond the arc on Tuesday, the 35-year-old point guard passed Dan Majerle for first place on the Phoenix franchise's all-time list. Nash has now made 801 three-pointers during his seven-plus seasons with the Suns.
Nash hit his record-breaking triple at a pivotal point in the game, knocking down a long-range rainbow from the top of the key to put the Suns ahead 92-86 with 5:30 remaining. The shot was part of a 16-4 run in which Phoenix turned an 84-81 deficit into a 97-88 lead in a span of less than four minutes.
Jason Richardson began the Phoenix rally with a three-pointer from the left corner to tie the score at 84-84 with 8:05 left. The Suns (4-0) went ahead to stay at 87-84 on Jared Dudley's drive to the basket and subsequent free throw for a three-point play with 7:03 remaining.
After a layup by Dwayne Wade pulled the Heat (3-1) to within 87-86, Channing Frye answered by making a jumper from the right wing, assisted by Nash.
After Nash hit his record-setting three-pointer with 5:30 remaining, Richardson added a triple from the right corner on the Suns' subsequent possession to stretch the lead to 95-88.
Nash flipped a behind-the-back pass in the lane to Richardson for a reverse layup to make it 97-88 with 4:11 left. Nash then notched another assist that resulted in a two-handed dunk by Amar'e Stoudemire with 3:13 remaining.
Nash finished the game with eight assists. He scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half, when he converted 9 of 10 field goal attempts.
Stoudemire finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and he also had three of the Suns' 11 blocked shots.
Grant Hill contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Richardson added 14 points.
Wade led the Heat with 23 points and seven assists. The 27-year-old Miami superstar also finished with nine rebounds.
Quentin Richardson added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat.