Apr. 15, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Phoenix Suns forward Luis Scola (14) celebrates with forward P.J. Tucker (17) in the first quarter against the Houston Rockets at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

SUNS WIN! SUNS WIN! A phrase so seldom heard throughout the Phoenix Suns 2012-2013 campaign, but they pulled it off!

The Phoenix Suns(25-56) topped the Houston Rockets(45-36) last night by the final score of 119-112 in what was the Suns final regular game of the season at the U.S Airways Center until next fall and the Suns sent Suns fans home on an good note by getting a great win on fan appreciation night!

The Suns received tremendous all-around effort from every single player who clocked significant minutes. All five starters for the Suns scored at least 12 points and four starters scored over 20.

Wanna know how well the night was going for the Suns? Kendall Marshall got to the rim and scored on two isolation plays! Astonishing! Interesting stat, going into tonight’s game Marshall has made just five(six tops!) lay-ups/close shots on the season. Marshall had three lay-ups tonight.

Luis Scola had one of his best games of the season as he finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and four assists on 11 of 15 shooting from the field. Scola’s counterpart Markieff Morris had his best game of the season no question about it! Morris was a presence all night long on both ends of the floor as he recorded 20 points, seven rebounds, five steals(career-high) and six blocks(career-high).

P.J Tucker played his best game of the season as well scoring a career high 21 points while shutting down the bearded one, James Harden. Tucker held Harden to just 16 points on 5 of 18 shooting from the floor. This was just the 12th time all season that Harden failed to crack the 20 point mark; two of those occasions were against the Suns.

Don’t forget the Dragon! Goran Dragic had an incredible game in his own right finishing the game with 21 points, 14 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. When asked about his impressive play after the game Dragic had this to say, “I would rather score 10 points per game but win 46 and make the playoffs.” If Dragic can carry his play from the second-half of this season into next season, the Suns may have a shot at the playoffs next year.

“For me and Luis and probably Marcus too, it means a lot. Every time you play against your former team you want to win and you want to do your best. Even when I was in Houston and we played against Phoenix I tried to play hard – I tried to have a good game; same thing right now.” Said Dragic.

The Suns did a great job taking care of the basketball last night committing just 11 turnovers which limited Houston’s fastbreak opportunities.

The Rockets got great play from their second-year forward Chandler Parsons who scored 24 points and dished out seven assists.

“This is a bad loss. We did this to ourselves. The frustration is all on us. At the end of the day they are still a NBA team. This is their last home game. They are not going to go out easy. We did not come ready to play. We did not come and play like something was on the line. This is just one of those games we are going to look back on and just be really frustrated thinking about how we let it slip away.” Said Parsons.

Rockets rookie Terrence Jones was a force off the bench matching Markieff Morris with six blocks; Jones also scored 12 points on 6 of 11 shooting.

As well as the Suns played last night, they almost had the game stolen from them by Houston gunner Carlos Defino. Defino scored 23 points off the bench for the Rockets while draining six three-pointers.

With this win over the Rockets, unfortunately the Suns are now above the Cleveland Cavaliers in the standings which will hurt the Suns draft position but getting a win like this? It’s worth it!

The Suns will head to Denver to take on the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night to close out their 2012-2013 season.

Apr 9, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Phoenix Suns point guard Goran Dragic (1) drives the ball to the basket during the first quarter as Houston Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin (7) defends at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Planet orange, here’s to a forgettable season(Bottoms up)! Tonight the Suns will take on the Rockets in what would be the Phoenix Suns’ home finale for the 2012-2013 season. The Suns are 16-24 at home this season and it’ll mark the first time the Suns have finished a season with a -.500 record at home since 2003-2004.

“We turned the ball over entirely too much,” Hunter said. “It wasn’t complicated turnovers, it was simple passes that we tried to be too fancy or tried to thread the needle to thin.”

Going into tonight’s game the Rockets are the favorites by a 7.0 margin according to ESPN.com.

The Rockets currently has forwards Chandler Parsons and Carlos Defino listed as day-to-day while the Suns have Michael Beasley listed as day-to-day after missing the past three-games due to the birth of his daughter.

Keys to the game: Suns 

• Hedge on Harden pick and rolls. James Harden has been getting to the foul-line at will this season because he’s been getting into the paint with ease off of high pick and rolls. If the Suns are able to trap Harden out high, they’ll take away Houston’s number one option on offense; teams did it to the Suns for years with Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire.
• Be aggressive offensively! As easily as this Rockets team put points up on the board, they give up points just as easily. Houston is ranked 28th in the NBA in average points allowed.
• Crisp passing. The Rockets are ninth in the league in steals per game. Guys like Jeremy Lin and James Harden absolutely hound the passing lanes.

Keys to the game: Rockets

• Defend the three-point line. The Suns are not a good three-point shooting team however, they do have quality shooters who can win a game or two single handily if they get hot.
• Crash the glass! The Suns are in a shortage of centers right now and the Rockets should take advantage by crashing the boards for extra possession every opportunity they get!

The X-Factor! 

• Something on the line? The Rockets are the current occupants of the sixth spot in the west right now however the Golden State Warriors own the same record as Houston(Houston has the tiebreaker). The Rockets are desperate to hold on to that sixth seed in order to avoid the Thunder or the Spurs in the first-round; no disrespect to the Nuggets or Clippers, but there’s a gap between the top two teams in the west and the rest of the pack.

Match-up of the night! 

• I like the match-up between Jeremy Lin and Goran Dragic. Lin ultimately replaced Dragic in Houston after signing that big contract however, Dragic has proven to be the better point guard. Dragic got the best of Lin in their last meeting, will the song remain the same?