HOUSTON (AP) -- Believe it or not, the high-scoring Phoenix Suns

had to rely on some tough defense to get out of Houston with their

fifth straight win.

Shawn Marion had 23 points and 18 rebounds, Joe Johnson added 19

points and the surging Suns held the Rockets to 34-percent shooting

in a 91-78 victory on Sunday night.

"It was one of those games when you would have liked to play

better offensively," said Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni, not

surprisingly lamenting his team's offensive woes. "But they only

shot 34 percent. So, on one hand, defensively we did a great job."

Jim Jackson came off the bench to score 15 points to help keep

the Suns running smoothly on a night when two of their All-Stars,

point guard Steve Nash and power forward Amare Stoudemire,

struggled to score. They combined to shoot 6-of-17 for just 14

points.

But Marion, Phoenix's third and most often overlooked All-Star,

flourished on a night when the Suns couldn't get the ball to drop

from them like it usually does.

The 6-foot-7 forward snatched away rebounds from Houston, helped

lock down Rockets leading scorer Tracy McGrady and raced up and

down the court for some highlight reel-worthy dunks.

"What can you say about him?," D'Antoni said of Marion. "It

was just another day at the office. People don't realize how good

he is ... he may be unappreciated by some people but not by us."

The victory kept Phoenix ahead in the race for the league's best

record (56-17) with nine games to play as they battle Miami and San

Antonio for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Suns

also found out they can win games even when they're bogged down by

a good defense, a trademark of postseason winners.

The Rockets, meanwhile, couldn't take advantage of a rare

off-night by Phoenix. They were held to 78 points, about 26 fewer

than the Suns' league-worst average, and failed to get an unusually

active Yao Ming more involved in the offense.

Yao was back in the lineup after missing Friday's loss to New

Orleans with a sore right calf. Wearing a protective black sleeve

around his lower leg, Yao had 19 points, 12 rebounds and two

blocks.

McGrady had only 13 points on 6-of-21 shooting and forward Ryan

Bowen, in only his fifth start of the year, scored a season-high 14

points.

McGrady blamed his subpar performance on tendinitis in both of

his knees.

"Right now, I feel like I'm 40 years old," said McGrady, who

turns 26 in May. "It's hard for me to do what I do on the

basketball court. It's bothering me right now and that's why I'm a

little sluggish."

The Suns, who lead the league in scoring with 110.7 points a

game, improbably went about seven minutes without scoring during a

stretch from late in the first quarter to midway through the

second.

During that span, Phoenix missed 13 straight shots, two free

throws and committed five turnovers. Of course, that's not

necessarily a surprise considering it came against the league's

fourth-best defense.

The Suns were held to a season-low 10 points in the second

quarter, and tied another low with 41 points at the half. They

trailed by a point at halftime.

But the plodding Rockets couldn't keep it up, and Marion scored

five points during a third quarter-closing 7-0 spurt to give the

Suns a 69-62 lead and put them firmly in control the rest of the

way.

"I kept on attacking the basket and I knew sooner or later it

would fall," Marion said. "I started feeling it a little bit."

Because of foul trouble and uncharacteristic offensive

struggles, Stoudemire failed to share much court time with Yao.

Stoudemire, who averages 26 points a game, scored nine points and

grabbed 14 rebounds in his second game since missing two straight

with an ankle injury.

Yao and Stoudemire have struck up something of a rivalry since

both entering the league as lottery picks in the 2002 draft, Yao as

the top pick and Stoudemire slipping to Phoenix at No. 9.

Stoudemire edged Yao for the Rookie of the Year award in

2002-03, and has rapidly developed into one of the game's premier

big men despite being just three years removed from his high school

days in Florida. Yao's development has taken a little more time

despite getting All-Star nods each of the three years he's been in

the league.

Yao got the best of their individual matchup again -- much as he

has recently -- but Stoudemire got the win. Yao and the Rockets get

another crack at Phoenix on Saturday.Game notes
Rockets guard Jon Barry sat out the game because of back

spasms. ... Jackson, who the Rockets sent to New Orleans on Dec.

17, played in Houston for the first time since the trade. ... The

Rockets went with their 14th different starting lineup of the

season. ... Nash reached double figures in assists in 14

consecutive games, the longest such streak since Mark Jackson did

the same for Denver in 1996-97. He had 11 on Sunday. ... The road

team has won all three games in this season's series.