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The Phoenix Suns, for the most part, haven’t had that much success on the road (9-15), even prior to their game Sunday night against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Unfortunately for the Rockets, Amare Stoudemire decided to bring his A-game to town, scoring a season-high 36 points, helping Phoenix outlast Houston in overtime 115-111.

The Rockets were flat in the first quarter, missing 14 of their first 16 shots and quickly fell behind by 13; Chase Budinger’s layup with 4:24 left in the period snapped the 6-minute Houston scoring drought, but a Jason Richardson dunk boosted the Suns’ lead to 21-8. Phoenix stretched their lead to 56-38 in the second quarter as the Rockets’ shooting went cold. and would go into the intermission 60-48.

Stoudemire hit three early baskets in the third quarter, but then the Rockets would tighten up their defense as they went on a 16-2 run. Aaron Brooks hit consecutive 3-pointers to cut their deficit to 68-67 and Luis Scola would tip in Trevor Ariza’s miss, giving Houston a one-point edge. Steve Nash would deliver five assists in the final minutes of the third period, and the Suns would go into the fourth quarter ahead 79-73.

Brooks would hit a jumper with 1:18 left in regulation to cut the Suns’ lead to 97-96; Nash would subsequently be whistled for a technical foul and Brooks would sink the free throw to tie the game. Nash would drain a trey with 1:08 left in the final quarter, putting Phoenix up 100-97; Ariza would tie things up with a 3-pointer with 11.3 seconds left to go and Nash would fall while heaving a last-second shot ,sending the game into overtime.

Stoudemire would foul out  with 3:08 left in OT and the scored tied at 104; Richardson completed a fast break with a layup along with another basket as Phoenix took a 111-107 lead. Brooks would hit a free throw but would get called for a line violation by intentionally missing the second free throw while trying to get his own rebound. Nash would hit a pair of free throws to secure the victory for Phoenix.

The Suns’ high scorer was Stoudemire with a game-high 36 points, 11 rebounds, an assist and 2 blocks while Grant Hill added 19 with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and 3 blocks; Robin Lopez chipped in 14 with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.

The Rockets were led by Brooks with 24 points (including four treys), 3 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and a block while Ariza added 21 (including 4 three-pointers) with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block; Scola scored 17 with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal while Carl Landry came off the bench to contribute 16 with 7 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.

Phoenix (28-21) plays again on Monday when they travel to the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Hornets while Houston (25-22) welcomes the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night.