James Harden, Brooklyn Nets stun Phoenix Suns in Steve Nash's return to Phoenix

Steve Nash was reliving special memories when entering the place he called home for his best years in the NBA.

"This place means a lot to me obviously," he said before the game. "Had some incredible years here. Incredible teams. Teammates. Coaches. The organization was first class and the fans here are fantastic. I lived here for 10 years. Loved it. Loved every minute of it."

He left feeling even better.

Without Kevin Durant (hamstring) and Kyrie Irving (back), Nash's Nets came back from 24 points down in the first half to stun Phoenix, 128-124, Tuesday night at Phoenix Suns Arena in the second of a back-to-back in a nationally-televised game on TNT.

"All vibes in there right now, all vibes," said a smiling Nash after the game. "Guys are rightfully excited. Great moral. Finding a way to make up a 24-point deficit.  Showed a lot of character, a lot of heart and as a coaching staff, that makes you proud." 

James Harden scored a game-high 38 points as his 3 gave Brooklyn (18-12), winners of four straight, its first lead of the game, 126-124, with 31.4 seconds left.

"It's the true definition of a team," Harden said. "One, two men go down, next man up. Tonight was a perfect example of that. Got down 20-something at halftime and we didn't give up. We didn't quit and kept fighting. Cut the deficit down and kept fighting and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end of the game and things went our way." 

Chris Paul led Phoenix (17-10) with 29 and Devin Booker added 22 as Suns had their six-game winning streak snapped before 3,181 fans to end a seven-game homestand.

The Suns doubled their fan limit amid COVID-19 pandemic from 1,500 to 3,000 starting with Tuesday's game. 

"When it got tough, we didn't step up to the challenge," Suns forward Jae Crowder said. "That's all five guys on the court. On either end, we were out of synch on both ends and I think our defense played a part in that on our offense. It's a disgusting loss in my eyes It's on the players. It's not on nothing else but us."

Down 116-108 with 4:56 remaining after a Paul 3, Brooklyn closed the game on a 20-8 run as the Nets shot 65% from the field in the fourth quarter, hitting 7-of-11 shots from 3.

"We couldn't get a stop the whole second half," said Suns coach Monty Williams as Brooklyn shot 62.5% in the second half, connecting on 12-of-22 threes.

"It wasn't (just) the last four minutes. I'm exaggerating a little bit, but they had 74 points in the second half. From a defensive standpoint, the ability to guard the ball and keep guys from getting to the basket was not great tonight."

A key play during the final five minutes was Nash challenging a foul called on Harden with Phoenix leading, 124-121, with 1:18 remaining. Harden was adamant going over the bench about the call as Booker was trapped on the play.

Brooklyn won the challenge, which led to a jump ball that the 6-8 Jeff Green won over the 6-11 Deandre Ayton.

Green ended up scoring on that possession to pull the Nets within a point.

Then after a missed 3 by Bridges, Harden put Brooklyn on top for the first time with a 3.

"You have to be honest about what happened tonight, but you can also point out the fact that we had a really good homestand," Williams said. "We didn't close it out the way that we wanted to, but we had been playing really good basketball and hopefully we can learn from that. The way we came out in the third quarter was really poor." 

The Bridges 3 attempt came off a penetration from Paul, who leaped into the air and in midflight kicked the ball with Bridges, who took a contested three.

Then after the Harden 3 and Phoenix timeout with 29.8 seconds left, Booker tried to back down Landry Shamet, but ended up taking a strained shot in the lane that didn't drop.

"We've been winning games with the ball in those guys hands," Williams said. "We didn't make the shots. Devin got the matchup that we wanted. Turned over his right shoulder. He just missed the shot. I'll take my chances with those guys having the ball in those closing moments. You just want them to make the shot."

Booker went scoreless in the fourth, taking only shots with the second one that didn't fall with Phoenix down a point. Joe Harris got the rebound, called a timeout with 13.7 seconds left.

"We set up the play the way that we wanted it and where we wanted to get the ball and we just didn't make the shot and that's OK," Williams continued. "I'm glad the guys are willing to take those shots." 

Harris added 22 points while Tyler Johnson chipped in 17 points, hitting 5-of-8 from 3 in first game against the Suns since they waived him in February 2020 during last season.

"Obviously I wish things would've ended differently here in Phoenix," Johnson said. "You're right about that, but I think being here was a learning experience that things aren't given. You feel like your career is going a trajectory one way and you make one stop and you find yourself in a situation where you're like damn, how the hell did I get here. So for me coming back, it felt good to get a win." 

Johnson said Nash probably felt the same way in the sense that they were returning to Phoenix for the first time under different conditions.

Nash clearly has the much deeper roots as he won two NBA MVPs while playing for the Suns, but after the game, he didn't revel in the idea his players may have wanted this win for him because of how much the game meant to him.

"I don't know," a smiling Nash said. "It'd be a good story, a good byline, but I think more than anything, they're competitive guys and they wanted to win. They wanted to prove that they can get it done on a night like tonight when most people are counting us out. " 

In closing, Nash said, "Just proud of the guys regardless of my history here. It was special for me in certain ways, but more than that, it was about this group." 

However, for Nash return as a coach with his former coach, Mike D'Antoni as one of his assistants and see his team rally from 24 points down to win, Johnson believes the win meant something special to Nash even though he didn't lead on very much it did after the game.

"When you step back and look at it now, it's like wow, that was a good win," Johnson said. "It's a good feeling to get your coach the first time he comes back a win here

."

Follow Suns Insider Duane Rankin on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.