“We can’t just play the game and pick out the good parts of the game and say we play well for a quarter or two or three. If you don’t play well for 48 minutes, you don’t play well,” Luis Scola said following the team’s most recent loss Sunday against New Orleans.

He was just getting started.

“We just don’t know how to play well,” he continued. “We don’t know how to play basketball and that’s why we lose. Until we learn how to play 48 minutes of basketball, we’re not going to win games. I’m surprised we won (23) games playing this way. Many of the games we won, we did the same thing. We just overcame it somehow. I’m also surprised we didn’t fix it. We saw the problem pretty much the first week and we couldn’t fix it. It’s very frustrating. It’s a bad year.”

– Reported by Craig Grialou of Arizona Sports

The Suns marketers have stretched the usual Fan Appreciation Night into a Fan Appreciation Month.

The Suns players are unable to stretch a quarter or half that their fans appreciate into an entire game.

The Suns played their season’s best first quarter for a 37-23 lead Friday night. It was their highest-scoring quarter of the season. With a 64-55 halftime lead, the Suns had matched their best scoring half. Trying to stretch that effort for an entire game was like stretching gum too thin. The bubble popped.

The Suns rallied late but could not clean up the wreckage of a 10-turnover third quarter and lost 111-107 to Golden State at US Airways Center. The Suns are on a season-worst eight-game losing streak, their first one since the last Steve Nash-less team, and have matched the franchise record for consecutive home losses of six. By losing for the 12th time in the past 13 games, the Suns now have the NBA’s third-worst record (23-53)…

Beasley finished with 25 points, his second best total of the season, and his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring game, matching his season’s best streak.

“I just stopped listening to people,” Beasley said. “I’m doing what I know how to do. That’s really it. The more I listen to people, the more I got to think about. So, at times, it messes me up when I’m trying to think about a thousand things at once. I just stopped listening to people and just started trusting my instincts again.”

What people?

“Everybody,” Beasley said. “My friends, my family, my teammates, the coaches.”

– Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

One of the best games of Goran Dragic’s career still wasn’t enough for the Phoenix Suns.

Instead, Deron Williams and C.J. Watson made a handful of crucial plays down the stretch and the Brooklyn Nets escaped with a 102-100 victory Sunday night.

Dragic fell a rebound shy of what would have been his second career triple-double with 31 points, 12 assists and nine boards. He was a point short of his career scoring high.

Dragic’s only career triple-double came with Houston two years ago and he knew he must have been close to one as this game progressed…

Brook Lopez added 20 points and Kris Humphries a season-best 17 for Brooklyn. Watson scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Nets, playing without Joe Johnson, who bruised his thigh in Brooklyn’s loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday night…

Wesley Johnson added 21 points - including 5 of 9 3-pointers - for the Suns, who were coming off consecutive blowout losses at home to Washington and Minnesota…

Dragic reached double digits in assists for a career-best fifth game in a row. His 11 double-digit assist efforts since the All-Star break are second only to Milwaukee’s 12 and Jennings has played one more game.

– Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

If a magic number indicates the combination of game results a team needs to qualify for the postseason, is the same number for playoff contention elimination an “unmagic number?”

If it is, that number for the Phoenix Suns is one. A Suns loss or one more win by the Los Angeles Lakers would eliminate Phoenix from postseason contention for the third straight season. It’ll be the team’s first three-year postseason absence since the span from 1986 to 1988.

The Suns host the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday at US Airways Center, and they’ll be short-handed when they do. Center Jermaine O’Neal will miss the contest with a left calf strain and an illness and according to interim head coach Lindsey Hunter, swingman Jared Dudley will probably miss the game as well.

“I’m thinking both guys have the stomach flu or something,” he said.

– Reported by Vince Marotta of Arizona Sports

A worn-out Los Angeles Lakers team without Kobe Bryant fell apart in the fourth quarter in Phoenix.

Luis Scola scored all 14 of his points, including his second 3-pointer of the season, and grabbed eight of his nine rebounds in the fourth quarter Monday night and the Suns pulled away for a 99-76 rout of the Lakers, without Bryant for the second night in a row.

”I thought the game was kind of on the line,” Scola said, ”and I was just trying to be aggressive.”

Steve Nash scored 19 against his former team, but was just 6 of 17 from the field as the Lakers shot 33 percent for the game.

”We just hit the wall,” Nash said, ”our ninth game in 14 days in seven cities and you could just kind of see the wheels fall off. Especially lately, with some guys being injured, we’ve been playing a seven-man rotation and I think it caught up with us a little bit. Our legs just came undone.”

The Suns, blown out at Washington 127-105 two nights earlier, outscored the Lakers 28-10 in the fourth quarter to snap a four-game losing streak…

Dwight Howard had 16 points and 11 rebounds, but was just 6 of 18 from the field for the Lakers, still without injured Pau Gasol.

Wesley Johnson added 14 points for the Suns, who beat the Lakers in Phoenix for the fourth time in a row…

Goran Dragic had 12 points and 10 assists for the Suns, who had six players in double figures. Jared Dudley scored 13, Kendall Marshall 11 and Michael Beasley 10 for Phoenix.

– Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

Phoenix Suns center Marcin Gortat today underwent an MRI that revealed a Lisfranc (midfoot) sprain in his right foot.  The injury is expected to sideline him for approximately three to four weeks.

The 6-11, 245-pound center sustained the injury with 34.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter of the Suns’ game against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.  Including last night’s game, Gortat has appeared in every game since being acquired by the Suns on Dec. 18, 2010—182 consecutive.  He has started 138 consecutive games for Phoenix, every game since March 27, 2011, and is the only Sun to start every game this season.  He owns season averages of 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.61 blocks in 61 games (61 starts).

With a 21-40 record, the Suns have been one of the league’s worst teams this season, and being without Gortat will only make things worse.

After a 25-day, nine-game road trip, the San Antonio Spurs were glad to be back in their own building, relaxed and ready to add to their 18-game home winning streak.

Maybe too relaxed.

Jermaine O’Neal had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Wesley Johnson hit a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to force overtime and the Phoenix Suns rallied to upend San Antonio 105-101, stunning a raucous crowd that had begun celebrating midway through the third quarter only to exit in silence.

Tony Parker had 22 points to lead San Antonio, which had not lost at home since Nov. 19 against the Los Angeles Clippers. Tim Duncan had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and DeJuan Blair and Kawhi Leonard added 15 points apiece.

Luis Scola added 15 points and Goran Dragic had 13 points and 13 assists for Phoenix, which snapped a six-game losing streak against the Spurs…

Trailing by 11 points with 11:29 left in the game, the Suns rallied behind O’Neal. The veteran center had 13 points and five rebounds as Phoenix (20-39) outscored San Antonio 33-23 in the fourth…

Dragic and reigning MVP LeBron James of Miami are the only players leading their team in points, assists, steals and free throw attempts.

– Reported by the Associated Press

Dating all the way back to the franchise’s expansion draft, when B.J. Armstrong said he would prefer not to play in Toronto, there has always been a concern with the Raptors that players did not want to play for them.

Well, Sebastian Telfair, acquired before Thursday’s trade deadline, is happy to be a Raptor. He has already seen dysfunction this season.

“This is my ninth year in the league so I definitely don’t want to go through anything like we were going through in Phoenix,” Telfair, who will suit up for his first game as a Raptor on Monday against Washington, said. “You’ve got a goal to win and if you’re not winning you at least want to be out there competing at the highest level. We weren’t doing that over there in Phoenix this year. I’m happy to be a part of a team that got a goal for themselves and night in and night out they’ve got something to achieve.”

Indeed, the Suns are one of the most depressing teams in the league. They are last in the Western Conference, have a roster that is low on talent and have gone through a coaching change.

– Reported by Eric Koreen of the National Post

Suns guard Shannon Brown is having his second consecutive career-high scoring season and runs little risk of that changing because he is not playing.

A roster lacking the talent to compete afforded Brown the opportunity to average 11.2 points because of the lack of creative scorers, but it also has sent the Suns staff in search of a new mix without Brown.

Brown did not play in any of last week’s three games and was not in the rotation again Sunday night against San Antonio after playing the first 53 games this season.

“I honestly don’t think what’s going on is supposed to be going on,” Brown said. “I really can’t do much about it but stay in shape and keep my mental (approach) strong and continue to work on my game, and hopefully things will get better for me.”

– Reported by Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic

Spurs point guard Tony Parker has been ruled out of Sunday’s rodeo road trip finale with a right triceps contusion, the team reported this afternoon.

The All-Star apparently suffered the injury at some point in the Spurs’ 107-101 overtime loss at Golden State on Friday night. Parker scored 18 points in the defeat, his career-best 48th consecutive game in double figures but also his lowest-scoring game since putting up 17 in a Jan. 16 victory over Memphis.

Parker was the Western Conference’s Player of the Month for January, in which he averaged 21.9 points and 7.9 assists and shot 56.3 percent. He has built a solid case to repeat in February, averaging 26.6 points, 8.4 assists and shooting 55.2 percent this month.

– Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News

Jeff Green gave Boston a sensational performance in his first start in nearly two years.

Green scored a season-high 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting and the short-handed Celtics routed the Phoenix Suns 113-88 on Friday night.

”I didn’t have a different mindset,” said Green, who missed last season following heart surgery to correct an aortic aneurysm. ”It was the same as me coming off the bench. I just tried to make a statement early and that’s what I did by attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line.”

Green started in place of 36-year-old Kevin Garnett, given a rest with Boston playing its third game in four nights…

Chris Wilcox had 13 points off the bench, and Avery Bradley and Jason Terry scored 13 each for the Celtics, who moved two games ahead of Milwaukee for seventh place in the Eastern Conference…

Paul Pierce scored only eight on 3-of-5 shooting for his fourth single-digit game of the season. But that mattered little to the Celtics, who were dominant from the opening tip in snapping a two-game skid.

Jordan Crawford, acquired from Washington on Thursday, made his Celtics debut and scored 10 points off the bench as Boston improved to 9-3 without injured guard Rajon Rondo…

Goran Dragic had 18 points and 10 assists, Markieff Morris scored 11 and Marcin Gortat added 10 points and six rebounds for the Suns, who have lost two straight and six of seven.

– Reported by the Associated Press

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have acquired veteran point guard Sebastian Telfair from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for centee Hamed Haddadi and a protected second-round draft pick in 2014.

“Acquiring Sebastian Telfair, who has played and started a fair number of NBA games during his career, addresses our depth issue at the point guard position,” said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo.

Telfair, 6-foot, 170 pounds, is in his ninth NBA season and owns career averages of 7.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 21.7 minutes in 535 games (192 starts). He has totaled career highs of 30 points (at Miami, Feb. 18, 2009), 13 assists (at Denver, April 9, 2005) and 48 minutes (vs. Indiana, Dec. 21, 2007).

Telfair, 27, has played for Portland, Boston, Minnesota, Los Angeles (Clippers), Cleveland and Phoenix. He posted career-high averages in points (9.8), assists (5.9) and minutes (32.2) with Minnesota. He appeared in 106 games with Phoenix the past two seasons, averaging 6.1 points, 2.4 assists and 15.9 minutes. He shot .349 (76-218) from three-point range with the Suns.

Telfair was one of the most celebrated high school players in New York City history, leading Brooklyn’s Abraham Lincoln High School to three New York PSAL titles and one state championship. He was selected out of high school by the Blazers (first round, 13th overall) in 2004.

A 7-2, 265-pound center, Haddadi became the first Iranian-born player in NBA history when he made his debut with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008-09.  Haddadi, who played his first four-plus seasons with the Grizzlies (2008-13), was part of the Jan. 30 trade between Memphis and Toronto that sent Rudy Gay to the Raptors.

Haddadi owns career averages of 2.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 134 career contests, and this season appeared in 13 games for Memphis before the trade.  He has not played a game as a member of the Raptors.

The Phoenix Suns today acquired second-year forward Marcus Morris from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Phoenix’s 2013 second-round draft pick, the club has announced.  In a related move, Phoenix has waived forward Luke Zeller.

“We have been intrigued for quite some time about the potential synergy from having both of the Morris twins on our team.  So we are excited to have the opportunity to welcome Marcus to the Suns,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby.

Marcus is the identical twin brother of Suns forward Markieff Morris, who is the older of the two.  Born just seven minutes apart, the pair was drafted approximately five minutes apart, selected with consecutive picks in the lottery of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Suns (Markieff, 13th) and Rockets (Marcus, 14th) after decorated three-year careers at the University of Kansas. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Morris twins become just the second pair of twins in NBA history to become teammates, joining Dick and Tom Van Arsdale, who were teammates with the Phoenix Suns in 1976-77.  They become the 13th pair of brothers to play together and join the Indiana Pacers’ Ben and Tyler Hansbrough as active members of that group.

A 6-9, 235-pound forward, Marcus has appeared in 71 games (17 starts) as a professional, all with the Rockets, and owns career averages of 7.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in 18.0 minutes. This season, he has seen a marked jump in production, averaging career highs of 8.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 21.4 minutes in 54 appearances (17 starts).  Morris has scored in double figures 24 times already this season, including two 20-point efforts, and a career-high 24 points on Dec. 29 against Oklahoma City.  The former Jayhawk has made 38.1 percent of his three-point attempts this season, and has connected on 74 three-pointers in his sophomore campaign after making two as a rookie.

A three-year starter at the University of Kansas, Morris averaged 12.6 points and 6.2 rebounds as a collegian, including a team-best 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds in his standout junior season in 2010-11.  Morris was named Big 12 Player of the Year, Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player, a Wooden Award Finalist and Oscar Robertson Trophy finalist in 2010-11 before declaring for the NBA Draft.

With his team stuck in a season-high, six-game losing streak, Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson called facing the Phoenix Suns ”the biggest game of the season for us” just before tipoff against the Western Conference’s worst team.

Apparently his players got the message.

Klay Thompson had 28 points and eight rebounds, David Lee finished with 19 points and 11 boards and the Warriors held on to beat the Suns 108-98 on Wednesday night to end their longest slide of the season.

”This is a game we should have won and we did win,” Jackson said. ”And I like the fashion in which we did it.”

Jarrett Jack added 21 points off the bench and Stephen Curry scored 20, with both making some key shots late to secure Golden State’s first victory in almost three weeks. The Warriors hadn’t won since routing Phoenix 113-93 on Feb. 2, and some offered an even simpler solution to the problem…

Goran Dragic had 20 points and 10 assists and Jermaine O’Neal added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns, who have lost five straight to Golden State, including all three meetings this season. Phoenix went down by 10 points in the first quarter and played from behind the rest of the way…

In another moment worth savoring for the Warriors, Andrew Bogut took his latest step forward. The 7-foot center had 11 rebounds, seven points and three blocks in a season-high 29 minutes while playing in back-to-back games for the first time since his comeback from left ankle surgery…

Earlier Wednesday, the Suns sent a future second-round draft pick to Houston in exchange for F Marcus Morris, who will join his twin older brother, Markieff, down in the desert, according to a person familiar with the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade hadn’t been finalized.

– Reported by Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press

The Houston Rockets have reached separate agreements on trades that will send Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas to Sacramento and Marcus Morris to Phoenix, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.

The Rockets will receive Thomas Robinson, the No. 5 pick in last year’s draft, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt from the Kings, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced and was still pending league approval.

In the other deal, the person said the Rockets will receive a future second-round pick from the Suns in exchange for Morris, who will join his twin older brother, Markieff, on the Phoenix roster.

“If I was to be traded, that’s where I would want to go,” Marcus Morris said outside the Rockets’ locker room. “I think Houston knew that. That’s all I did was talk about my brother and how happy I was to play with him. I’m excited. That’s all I can say.”

Patterson, Aldrich and Douglas walked out of the Toyota Center just as Houston was starting its game against Oklahoma City, on the eve of the trading deadline.

– Reported by the Associated Press

Just when the Los Angeles Lakers thought their season was fully saturated with weirdness, Kobe Bryant made one shot and committed eight turnovers in one of the worst games of his career - and the Lakers still beat Phoenix.

Although the Lakers keep finding new ways to flummox their fans and themselves, they’re also still finding ways to win.

Dwight Howard had 19 points and 18 rebounds, Antawn Jamison added 19 points, and the Lakers survived Bryant’s bizarre four-point performance for their eighth victory in 11 games, 91-85 over the Suns on Tuesday night.

Even in this tumultuous season jam-packed with statistical oddities and high-profile failures, the Lakers’ latest victory is a curiosity. Returning from a seven-game road trip, the Lakers hung on to win despite the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history, who had never played this many minutes (36) with just one field goal in his 17-season career.

Bryant didn’t attempt a shot in the first half and scored his first basket with 2:13 to play, finishing 1 for 8 in his lowest-scoring game since Jan. 13, 2005, when he left a game against Cleveland after six minutes with an injury.

Yet after the win, he greeted his horrific statistics with a smile.

”I thought it was great, actually,” Bryant said. ”Obviously, scoring four points, going 1 for 8, that’s not necessarily a recipe for success. … But it’s not about us as individuals. It’s about what we can do to help the team.”

Bryant counteracted his nine assists -just one in the second half - with a raft of turnovers, yet the Lakers survived against one of the NBA’s worst teams with big plays from Howard, Steve Nash and Metta World Peace, who scored 17 points. Bryant finally got an 8-foot leaner to fall, keeping the Lakers in control.

– Reported by Greg Beacham of the Associated Press

Iman Shumpert was not his usual boisterous self after the Knicks’ 102-88 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. He spoke softly, sometimes responding to questions with one-word answers. Shumpert spent a majority of his time in the locker room with his head down.

Shumpert knows he has had a difficult week. He has been trying to find his rhythm on the court and his niche with the Knicks. And on Saturday night, he became the subject of a trade rumor. The Phoenix Suns were said to be interested in making a deal for Shumpert, a second-year guard, in exchange for Jared Dudley and a possible first-round pick before the Feb. 21 trade deadline.

Shumpert, who returned to the court less than a month ago after having knee surgery in the spring, met with Coach Mike Woodson on Saturday.

“He said don’t worry about it,” Shumpert said. “Rumors are rumors. I don’t really care. I just have to play ball. I can’t control that anyway. It’s nothing to worry about. I just have to go out there and play.”

– Reported by Nate Taylor of the New York Times (Blog)

When Oklahoma City faces Phoenix, the Thunder rolls.

Thabo Sefolosha made a career-high 5 of 7 3-pointers and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Phoenix Suns for the second game in a row 97-69 on Sunday night.

The 28-point blowout followed a 127-96 Thunder romp over the Suns in Oklahoma City on Friday night.

”We played the same as we did last time,” Russell Westbrook said. ”I think we did a good job of that, and maybe even better this time.”

Westbrook scored 24 points in 28 minutes in the Thunder’s 10th straight victory over Phoenix, the longest active streak for any Suns opponent.

Sefolosha added 20 points, two shy of his career high. Kevin Durant scored 18, 11 below his NBA-leading season average (29.1), in limited duty in the Thunder’s fourth straight win, none of them by fewer than a 21-point margin.

Sefolosha set a season high for the second straight game after getting 18 against the Suns on Friday…

Markieff Morris was the only Phoenix player in double figures with 12…

The Thunder were without Kevin Martin because of the flu.

– Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

Scottsdale police say Phoenix Suns forward Michael Beasley was cited last month on suspicion of speeding, driving on a suspended Arizona license and driving without a vehicle license plate or registration.

The Suns issued a statement Monday saying they discussed the matter with Beasley ”and at this time do not believe any further action by the club is warranted.”

A police report said Beasley was stopped Jan. 25 on suspicion of driving 71 mph in a 45 mph zone.

– Reported by the Associated Press

Stephen Curry started campaigning early, sending several signals out to coach Mark Jackson for playing time.

”He was ignoring me, turning his back on me and giving me that look my kids give me when they want something special for Christmas,” Jackson said. ”He wanted badly to be out on the floor.”

Curry returned after missing two games with an ankle injury and scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half, helping the Golden State Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns 113-93 on Saturday night.

”I’ve been through that same conversation with him three times,” Curry said of Jackson. ”I put up a good fight today. I was 0 for 2 before that. It was not really a pain issue but a swelling issue. I gave it all day to lessen and then conferred with the trainers to get the OK.” …

Harrison Barnes matched his season high with 21 points for the Warriors, who have won four straight and seven of nine overall. David Lee had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Klay Thompson added 17 points and Andrew Bogut finished with 11…

Curry, who twisted his right ankle in the third quarter of Monday night’s win over Toronto, was 6 for 10 from 3-point range as Golden State beat Phoenix for the fourth straight time…

The Warriors recorded a season-high 34 assists and had four players - Curry, Lee, Thompson and Jarrett Jack - with at least seven for the first time in franchise history and the first time in the NBA since Nov. 24, 2006, when the Denver Nuggets did it against the Warriors.

Michael Beasley scored 24 points for the Suns, who have dropped four of five. Jared Dudley added 16 points, Goran Dragic scored 13 and Luis Scola had 14 rebounds.

– Reported by Rick Eymer of the Associated Press