WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Phoenix Suns started slowly but closed with conviction in a lopsided 109-91 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday.
The Suns have won five in a row and improved to 20-21, good enough for second place in the Pacific division. The Wizards have lost two in a row.
Channing Frye led the Suns with 25 points and scored 12 in the decisive third quarter on four three-pointers as the Suns outscored Washington 31-18 to turn a one-point halftime deficit into a 12-point lead.
"I came out and got in the rhythm and just shot it," said Frye. "I have been getting my shots up and some games it goes like that."
Three Suns recorded double-doubles -- Steve Nash scored 17 points and had 14 assists, Vince Carter 12 points and 10 rebounds and Marcin Gortat 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Nick Young scored 25 points to lead the Wizards and John Wall had 11 points and 14 assists.
The Wizards had two lengthy scoring streaks in the opening quarter, fueled by John Wall's nine assists, and led 33-22 at the end of the quarter.
The Suns chipped away at the lead in the second and closed the gap to just a single point on several occasions, before finally seizing the lead in the third quarter.
"There's nothing they did in the second half that they didn't do in the first half, except for Frye turning it on and hitting some shots," said Wizards forward Andray Blatche, who scored 14 points.
(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario; editing by Rex Gowar and Peter Rutherford)