SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, Jan. 23
Portland at New Orleans (8 p.m. EST). Two surprising first-place teams meet in New Orleans.
STARS
Tuesday
-Steve Nash, Suns, scored 15 of his season-high 37 points in the fourth quarter, leading Phoenix past Milwaukee 114-105.
-Ron Artest, Kings, finished with 27 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals in Sacramento’s 128-94 win over New Jersey.
STREAKING
Phoenix has won four straight and is the first Western Conference team to reach 30 wins after a 114-105 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday. … Sacramento scored its highest point total of the season and won its third straight, 128-94 over New Jersey.
SLUMPING
New Jersey dropped its sixth straight, 128-94 to Sacramento on Tuesday. … Milwaukee has lost six of seven after a 114-105 defeat at home to Phoenix.
SPEAKING
“I was a little rusty, but I thought it was OK.” – Phoenix’s Grant Hill after his first game in nearly two weeks after undergoing an appendectomy. Hill, who missed seven games recovering from the surgery on Jan. 9, had eight points and three assists in 27 minutes of the Suns’ 114-105 win over Milwaukee on Tuesday.