Suns  115    Rockets  111

Phoenix Suns (27-21) at Houston Rockets (25-21), 7 p.m.

Sports Network | January 31, 2010

(Sports Network) - The road hasn't been too kind for the Phoenix Suns, as they kick off a four-game trek Sunday evening against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.

Phoenix will also visit the Hornets, Nuggets and Kings, and is 9-15 away from the desert this season. The Suns have lost five in a row as the guest and put the brakes on a short two-game skid with a 112-106 home victory versus the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday behind 19 points and 11 assists from Steve Nash.

"It was a great win for us. I thought that we played really the way we did the first month of the season," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "We had grittiness and just refused to lose. I thought our defense was great."

Amare Stoudemire provided 22 points and Jason Richardson chipped in 17 for the Suns, who won for only the third time in the previous 10 contests. Goran Dragic tallied 13 points in a winning cause.

Meanwhile, the Rockets will continue a six-game homestand tonight and halted a three-game slide with a 104-100 triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. Aaron Brooks scored 33 points and dished out seven assists, while Carl Landry scored 15 of his 21 points in the final quarter for the Rockets.

"Tonight we did a much better job sticking to our plan, staying aggressive," said Rockets forward Shane Battier, who had eight points and eight rebounds. "Going into the half with a lead was a huge confidence lift for us."

Trevor Ariza and Luis Scola each scored 12 points, while Kyle Lowry had 11 for Houston, which is 1-3 on the residency and 14-8 at home this season. The Rockets will close out the homestand on Tuesday versus Golden State.

In injury news for Houston, Lowry is expected to miss 1-2 weeks of action because of a knee sprain.

Phoenix has won the first two meetings of the season with Houston and three in a row overall. The Suns have won eight of their past 11 contests on the road in this series.