OKLAHOMA CITY – Grant Hill scored a season-high 30 points and had 11 rebounds, Steve Nash added 20 points and 10 assists and the short-handed Phoenix Suns snapped Oklahoma City's five-game winning streak by beating the Thunder 113-110 on Sunday night.
Phoenix played while waiting for trade acquisitions Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus to join the team but found a way to edge past the Thunder down the stretch.
The Suns let a 13-point lead slip away but were able to recover and take the lead for good on Robin Lopez's right-handed dunk with 6:45 left. Oklahoma City got within a point in the final 7 seconds, but never got the chance to take the lead as the teams traded foul shots.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 28 points, and Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green scored 19 apiece.
Lopez's dunk started a burst of six straight points for Phoenix, with Nash adding a jumper and Hill hitting two free throws to make it 100-94 with 4:58 remaining. That provided just enough of a cushion for the Suns.
Durant twice got Oklahoma City within two points, but Nash set up a reverse layup by Josh Childress and Channing Frye spun for a two-handed jam that bumped the advantage back up to 106-100.
Durant brought the Thunder back again with a runner and a jumper in the lane, but he then had the ball stolen away by Childress with a chance for Oklahoma City to tie.
The Thunder didn't get another similar chance until the final seconds, when Goran Dragic fouled Westbrook in the backcourt to try to protect a three-point lead. Westbrook tried heaving the ball toward the basket and earn three free throws, but officials ruled that he wasn't shooting at the time of the foul.
Oklahoma City got one last chance after Frye missed the second of two foul shots with 2.4 seconds left, but Green's desperation shot from halfcourt wouldn't fall.
Lopez finished with 19 points and the Suns had six players score in double figures — Frye had 12, Earl Barron added 11 and Childress 10.
After losing four of their last five games, the Suns overhauled their roster by trading Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark to Orlando a day earlier. That left them undermanned until replacements arrive — possibly not until they play Miami on Thursday in Phoenix.
The good news: Nash came back after missing most of a loss to Dallas two nights earlier after he hurt his neck in a collision with Tyson Chandler.
Phoenix didn't miss a beat, scoring the first seven points of the game and leading by nine within the first 4 minutes. Oklahoma City closed to within a point twice in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but Lopez hit back-to-back jumpers from just behind the foul line. Dragic had a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup on back-to-back trips as the Suns slowly rebuilt their lead.
Childress' jumper made it 51-40 with 2:34 left before halftime and Phoenix was up by as much as 13 after Frye started the second half with back-to-back baskets for a 58-45 edge.
Westbrook fueled an 11-0 run that included Durant's alley-oop jam, which provided Oklahoma City with its first lead. Westbrook followed with his third layup during the stretch to put the Thunder up 83-80.
There were three lead changes early in the fourth before Phoenix went ahead to stay.
NOTES: Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said starting C Nenad Krstic "felt much better" after a tougher workout Saturday and then had another workout Sunday. He still missed his fifth straight game with a lower back sprain. ... Suns assistant coach Dan Majerle drew his second technical foul this season with 5:22 left in the first quarter. ... For the second time in a week, a Thunder fan hit a halfcourt shot to win $20,000. Todd Lafferty banked in a towering shot during the break after the first quarter, one week after Robert Yanders did it in the second quarter of a game against the Cavaliers.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.