Kidd Triple-Doubles Suns Win

Tom Gugliotta and Antonio McDyess were supposed to provide the marquee matchup. Jason Kidd stole the show instead.

Kidd had 28 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds and George McCloud added 24 points as the Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 115-106 Monday night.

"Jason was unbelievable," said Gugliotta, the free agent signee who replaced McDyess in Phoenix. Gugliotta finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

"He carried us through difficult stretches, shot the ball well and bailed us out of some tough moments."

Kidd was 9-for-17 shooting and posted his 20th triple-double as the Suns beat the Nuggets for the eighth consecutive time and second time this year.

"I don't really care about the triple double and don't really care about stats as long as we have more wins than losses," Kidd said. "My job is to get the team going. I was too laid back early and I wasn't aggressive, but came back in the second half when it was do or die."

Bryant Stith scored 23 points and Nick Van Exel added 21 for the Nuggets, who last beat the Suns on Dec. 23, 1996. McDyess had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Chauncey Billups had 20 points as Denver lost for the sixth time in seven games this year.

McCloud, who shot 5-for-7 from 3-point ange, scored nine of his points and Chris Morris had six in a 27-2 second quarter run that erased a 19-point deficit and gave Phoenix a 58-52 lead.

"That was a spectacular run in the second quarter and we had good shooting by McCloud and Morris," Phoenix coach Danny Ainge said. "I thought our bench gave us a big lift and when we brought the starters back, Kidd led the troops."

The Suns cooled off slightly in the third quarter, hitting 58 percent of its shots, but increased its lead to 89-75. Denver closed to 107-100, but Kidd hit four free throws in the final minute to ice the game.

"Kidd just took over and controlled the game," McDyess said. "They got a lot of momentum and confidence and it seemed like we laid down."

Denver's backcourt, Van Exel and Billups, provided a quick start, with 12 and 11 points respectively, as the Nuggets led 35-19 after one quarter.

"We started out great and then things started going south," Denver coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We got too content with ourselves and we lived and died with the 3-point shot."

Ainge (100-62) won his 100th game as Suns coach, becoming the fourth Suns coach to win 100 games and second fastest to reach the mark. Only Paul Westphal (100-40) did it faster.

Notes

McCloud returned to the starting lineup after a missing a game with a sprained right ankle. ... . Denver has played six playoff teams from last year and lost all of them. ... The Suns played the first of three games in three consecutive nights for the first time in 15 seasons. ... . Denver Broncos All-Pro tight end Shannon Sharpe attended the game. ... . Denver attempted a team-record 32, 3-pointers and made a season-high 11. ... . Stith's 23 were the most he's had since getting 23 on Feb. 21, 1997.

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