Luis Scola scored 22 points to lift the Phoenix Suns over the Chicago Bulls 97-81 on Saturday night.
For the Suns, Michael Beasley added 20 points and chipped in 20 rebounds to help his team win the first road win after they lost 12 straight games on the road. Sebastian Telfair contributed with 13 points and six rebounds and Shannon Brown finished with points against the Bulls.
Beasley produced his second best performance with 20 points; his best effort was making 21 against the Clippers on Dec. 8.
''I was shooting tonight like I really wanted to make it,'' Beasley said. ''It is the first time in a long time I have felt that way and had the confidence.''
The victory also marked the Suns' 2,000th win in the 3,599th NBA game. They are the fourth fastest team to reach this feat.
''It was a much needed win for us,'' The Associated Press quoted Suns coach Alvin Gentry as saying. ''When you (win No. 2,000) against a historical team like the Bulls and all they've meant to this league, it really is a great achievement.''
For the Bulls, top scorer Carlos Boozer scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Joakin Noah had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Chicago lost the fourth game in the last six they played at home, whereas they won 10 out of 15 games they played in.
''We're going on the road and beating some of the best teams, then coming home against lower-echelon teams and not competing,'' Noah said. ''If we all knew what the problem was, we'd do something about it.''
Chicago got off to a good start in the first quarter and outscored the Suns 21-20, but Phoenix outshined them in the second quarter by scoring 29 points and stopping them at 21, to take a seven-point lead in the first half.
The third quarter was almost a replica of the second, and the Bulls outscored the Suns 28-21 to extend their lead to 14 points.
Phoenix presented some resistance in the fourth quarter but were outscored by the Bulls 18-20 and with this, Chicago won the game by 16 points.
Phoenix offense played very well against one of the best defenses and shot 36 out of 73 attempts from the field, whereas the opponents had only 32 of 88. The Suns hit six 3-pointers, while the Bulls had only two. The Suns also out-rebounded the Bulls 46-42.
''For the first time in a very long time we played and executed well for four quarters,'' Gentry said.
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