By Tom Ziller

– NBA Editor

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Jan 3, 2012 – The Phoenix Suns, known primarily for their offense since Steve Nash arrived in 2004, had struggled on that end this season. But all the Suns needed was a matinee against the Golden State Warriors, which is just what they got on Monday. The Suns beat the Warriors 102-91 as Nash roared with 21 points on 9-13 shooting, nine assists and two turnovers.

The Suns’ 102 points came in 91 possessions for an offensive rating of 112. The Warriors had appeared to be improving on defense under rookie head coach Mark Jackson, but that progress took a fall on Monday. Suns rookie Markieff Morris racked up 16 points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench.

Monta Ellis led the Warriors with 16 points on 6-16 shooting with 11 assists, five rebounds and three turnovers. Stephen Curry scored 10 points, but played just 23 minutes due to foul trouble. David Lee was inactive, forcing Jackson to start Dominic McGuire at foward with Dorell Wright.

The Suns and Warriors are now each 2-3.

For more on the Suns, visit Bright Side Of The Sun. For more on the Warriors, visit Golden State Of Mind.

Read More: Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Golden State Warriors at Phoenix Suns, Jan 2, 2012 3:30 PM EST

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PHOENIX (CBS / AP) — Steve Nash scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and rookie Markieff Morris added 16 points, helping the Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors 102-91 on Monday.

Jared Dudley had 15 points, and Channing Frye and Shannon Brown added 10 each for the Suns, who have won two of three overall and six straight against the Warriors. Phoenix has not lost to Golden State at home since March 8, 2005, a 13-game stretch.

Monta Ellis had 18 points, Dominic McGuire scored 14 and Brandon Rush finished with 13 points for the Warriors, who lost their first road game after opening the season with four in a row at home.

Golden State was without second-leading scorer and top rebounder David Lee, who was a late scratch after being hospitalized earlier Monday with an undetermined illness.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Warriors (2-2) at Suns (1-3), 1:30 tip-off

C: Andris Biedrins … Marcin Gortat

PF: David Lee … Channing Frye

SF: Dorell Wright … Grant Hill

SG: Monta Ellis … Jared Dudley

PG: Stephen Curry … Steve Nash

Key Warrriors subs: Brandon Rush, Ekpe Udoh, Ishamel Smith, Dominic McGuire, Kwame Brown, Klay Thompson.

Snacking on some Orange Slices before an early tip-off:

* Monta Ellis, averaging 21.0 points and 7.7 assists in two wins and a loss, missed Golden State’s Wednesday night loss to Philadelphia for his grandmother’s funeral in Mississippi but the Contra Costa Times’ Marcus Thompson reported this morning that Ellis has rejoined the team and will play today. Grant Hill fared well against Ellis defensively last season, including Ellis’ eight-point outing in the teams’ final meeting.

* The Warriors have lost 12 consecutive games at US Airways Center, dating back to March 2005. Golden State was 10-31 on the road last season. This is the Warriors’ first road game of the season after opening with a four-game homestand that included wins against Chicago and New York. Golden State only has won 26 road games over the last three seasons combined.

* The Suns have won six consecutive games overall against Golden State.

* The Suns rank 24th in the NBA in scoring, 24th in field goal percentage and 27th in 3-point percentage. The very thing that was supposed to give the Suns a fighting chance at the playoffs despite little roster improvement was the continuity of the team.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look that way, does it?” said Steve Nash, whose shot has been ailing due to a rib bruise.

The Suns’ offense always has operated off rhythm and perhaps they never established that without spending the time they do playing together on their own each September before training camp started. The Suns clearly are getting good shots. In the last home game, they charted that they took 11 “Grade-A” shots in the first quarter and made two.

“It’s not about anything another team does,” Frye said. “It’s about us. We’ve got to jump up and make shots and whether we’re going to stick to our defensive principles?”

* How did the Suns defense go from giving up 29.8 percent shooting, the third lowest opponent mark in franchise history, against New Orleans on Friday night to yielding 53.2 percent shooting to Oklahoma City on Saturday night? For one, the Hornets don’t have much for scoring threats without Eric Gordon and the Thunder is playing like the best team in the West. But the Suns were a different defensive team internally Saturday night against the Thunder.

“We didn’t stay within what we’re supposed to do,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “We tried to make up too much as we went along. When we do that, we can’t have any continuity because nobody knows what the next guy is doing.”

* The Suns’ best 3-point shooter this season is a rookie who looked throughout training camp like maybe he should hold off on adding it to his repertoire. But Gentry kept encouraging Markieff Morris to shoot and the Suns have another stretch power forward to show for it.

Morris is 5 for 9 on 3s after going 3 for 4 in the Saturday loss. That included a fourth-quarter bank shot.

“I actually tried to shoot it off the backboard,” Morris said. “I called bank. I don’t know if you heard me.”

Morris also has the team’s third best rebounding rate (18 rebounds in 68 minutes) behind Gortat and Frye.

* Frye is not the only notorious proficient 3-point shooter who has opened the season on a cold streak. Wright sank 194 3s last season in his first year with Golden State but is 3 for 17 (17.6 percent) in the first four games this season. Like Phoenix, Golden State has struggled from 3-point range as a team (27.5 percent).

* The Suns and Warriors both emphasized a defensive culture change with offseason coaching hires — lead assistant Elston Turner for Phoenix and new head coach Mark Jackson for Golden State. It would have made for a nice turnaround with the teams if their offenses had not become polar-opposites of their past. Golden State (89.0) and Phoenix (89.3) rank as the sixth and seventh lowest scoring offenses in the league.

* Michael Redd is joining the Suns today to begin working out with the team. He likely is at least a week away from playing.

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