--C Shaquille O'Neal came up short in his bid for three straight 30-point games, pushing and shoving his way to 19 points and 11 rebounds against Dwight Howard. But Howard scored 21 points himself and frustrated O'Neal into a late fourth-quarter technical foul during a 9-0 Orlando run that out the game out of reach. As he predicted, the Orlando crowd booed O'Neal at every opportunity. The Suns' trip continues Wednesday in Miami, a swing O'Neal has dubbed "The I Hate Shaq Tour."

--G Jason Richardson continues to thrive offensively under coach Alvin Gentry. Richardson hit 11-of-20 shots from the field and led the Suns with 27 points, connecting on 4-of-7 three-point tries. But Richardson is playing out of position defensively and that is hurting the Suns. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu put up 51 points for the Magic to nullify Richardson's offensive production.

--F Matt Barnes lights up the scoreboard when he plays the Lakers but it's a different story otherwise. Two days after flirting with a triple-double (26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists) against the Lakers, Barnes missed 5-of-6 shots from the field and managed only five points. But Barnes had five rebounds and in his 19 minutes on the floor, the Suns outscored the Magic by 10 points. Barnes has been more productive as a starter this season with the Suns, so it wasn't a big surprise that, with him going back to the bench with the return of Steve Nash, his numbers sagged.

--G Steve Nash was able to play for the first time since spraining his ankle last Tuesday against Charlotte and amazingly played 41 minutes. He produced 20 points and eight rebounds but also committed seven of Phoenix's 21 turnovers. He also appeared to run out of gas down the stretch and the Phoenix offense suffered as a result (18 fourth-quarter points).

MEDICAL WATCH:

--F Amare Stoudemire (detached retina) is out for the rest of the regular season, and probably longer.