nba roundup Sunday’s games

Suns 102, Wizards 90

WASHINGTON — Jason Richardson scored 22 points, Steve Nash had 17 assists, and the Phoenix Suns maintained their dominance of the Washington Wizards. The Suns never trailed in the second half as they beat the Wizards for the sixth straight time, including five in a row at the Verizon Center. Washington last defeated Phoenix nearly three years ago — on Dec. 22. 2006. Phoenix improved to 6-1, matching the best seven-game start in franchise history. The Wizards have lost four straight. Phoenix let the Wizards stay close by committing 21 turnovers, but ultimately the Suns controlled the game because they were able to share the ball better, finishing with 30 assists to Washington’s 15. Pistons 88, 76ers 81

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Ben Gordon scored 23 points and Ben Wallace added 16 rebounds for the Pistons, who held Philadelphia without a field goal the final six minutes. Wallace had seven of Detroit’s 21 offensive rebounds, and added three blocks and three steals. Charlie Villanueva added 16 points. Andre Iguodala led Philadelphia with 24 points.

Thunder 102, Magic 74

OKLAHOMA CITY — Stan Van Gundy doesn’t care how many players the Orlando Magic are missing. He still wants the rest to give their best. Kevin Durant scored 28 points, Russell Westbrook added 17 points and 10 assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder ran away from the defending Eastern Conference champions in the second half. “We’re not a good basketball team right now. I’ve been saying that, but nobody’s listening,” Van Gundy said. “We’re totally predicated on shooting. We do not have any kind of defensive mindset, we don’t have much toughness and we’re not very smart. So, right now we’re not a very good team.” The Magic played for the fourth time this season without All-Stars Vince Carter (ankle) and Rashard Lewis (suspension), and also added Ryan Anderson (ankle) to their injured list. After a strong start, Orlando fell behind midway through the second quarter and never mounted a comeback. “That’s a team that plays with great intensity. I would like to see our team play with that,” Van Gundy said. “We’ve had teams in the past the last couple years that have played with that. We don’t now. We play very soft and not with much intensity. Quite honestly, until that changes, we’re going to have a lot more games like that.” Oklahoma City raced out of halftime to score the first eight points, and then added a 9-0 spurt shortly thereafter to push its lead to 72-49 on Nick Collison’s basket in the lane midway through the third period.

Associated Press