--C Shaquille O'Neal came up huge for the Suns on a night when Steve Nash left with an injury and Amare Stoudemire was plagued by foul trouble. O'Neal scored 28 points -- vaulting past Dominique Wilkins for ninth place on the all-time NBA scoring list in the process -- and added 12 rebounds in 31 minutes.

O'Neal is averaging 24.5 points on 61.4-percent shooting over the last six games. It will be interesting to see how much he has left for Memphis on Tuesday. O'Neal normally doesn't play back-to-back games, but will this time since the Suns are in the midst of a stint where they play only four times in a 17-day span.

--F Amare Stoudemire's streak of 20-point games was snapped at 11 on Monday when he was limited to only 23 minutes by foul trouble. He wound up with 14 points and five assists -- but only one rebound. Stoudemire's streak was the longest in the NBA. The second longest belonged to Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and his streak was snapped by the Suns (18 points on 5-for-17 shooting).

--F Matt Barnes rebounded from a scoreless 20 minutes against the Spurs on Christmas Day with 19 points off the bench and six rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Barnes had a scary moment in the third quarter when he turned his ankle after an assault on the basket, but he was able to play through it and was on the floor at the end. Barnes likes playing in Oklahoma City. When the Suns were there on Nov. 25, Barnes had the game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds.

--G Jason Richardson was the goat against the Spurs with his last-second blown defensive assignment, but he came back strong with 20 points against the Thunder, although he missed 12-of-20 shots from the floor. Richardson electrified the crowd in the third quarter with a 360-degree slam dunk off a long pass from Shaquille O'Neal.

--G Leandro Barbosa was forced to play a team-high 37 minutes because of Steve Nash's injury and had a tough shooting night (4-for-11, 0-for-5 from three-point range). But Barbosa collected a career-high six steals to go with 10 points and five assists, committing only two turnovers and keeping the Suns pointed in the right direction.

MEDICAL WATCH:

--G Steve Nash left the game with 2:54 left in the first quarter with back spasms and did not return. It's the second time this season a back injury has forced Nash to the sidelines (Nov. 20 against the Lakers) and the tweaks and twists are par for the course during his career. His status for Tuesday's game in Memphis is up in the air, but with three off days following the game it's a good bet he won't play if he doesn't feel 100 percent.

--G Goran Dragic did not accompany the team to Oklahoma City after missing two practices with the flu and an accompanying rash. Sure enough, there was playing time to be had at the point when Nash went down. Dee Brown was forced to back up Leandro Barbosa against the Thunder.