SALT LAKE CITY — Steve Nash had 11 assists in just three quarters, Amar’e Stoudemire finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns easily earned the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference by beating the Utah Jazz 100-86 on Wednesday night.
Channing Frye scored 10 of his 15 points in the second quarter and Goran Dragic added 12 points for the Suns, who capped their surge through the West standings by ending Utah’s 10-game home winning streak and ripping away the Jazz’s hopes of opening the playoffs in Utah.
The Jazz finished fifth in the West and will open the playoffs at Denver, which claimed the Northwest Division title and No. 4 seed by holding the tiebreaker over Utah.
Deron Williams led Utah with 24 points and Mehmet Okur finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Carlos Boozer, Utah’s leading scorer and rebounder, was out with a strained muscle in his rib cage and the Jazz struggled inside without him, especially after Okur and Paul Millsap got in foul trouble.
Phoenix capitalized inside, but it was the Suns’ outside shooting during a torrid second quarter that blew open the game.
