"Jason Richardson knows all about carrying an offense. He had been a go-to guy for Golden State and Charlotte before he ever got to Phoenix.

The last time the Suns were seeking more scoring was when Amaré Stoudemire went down. Richardson posted a season-high 34 points in the next game.

This time, with Leandro Barbosa out due to injury, Richardson responded Saturday with a new season high of 35 points and boosted the Suns to a season-high four-game winning streak with a 128-96 rout of Washington. Phoenix is 3 1/2 games back of eighth-place Dallas after being six back 10 days ago.

Richardson's 17-point third quarter of 5-for-5 3-point shooting (he is 12 for his last 21) helped excuse Phoenix from wasting away a 19-point first-half lead against the injury-decimated last-place team of the Eastern Conference.

"I just felt like every shot I threw up was going to go in," Richardson said. "A couple of them, when they left my hand, I called that it was going to miss, and I kind of shocked myself when a couple of them went in.

"Guys were going to me. Coach was running plays for me. It brought back what I used to do, and I'm very comfortable with doing that role."

The game's historical significance came via Richardson, too. He fed center Shaquille O'Neal for a slam that pushed him past Moses Malone for fifth place on the NBA's career scoring list.

O'Neal, who started the season in 11th place, scored 13 points to raise his tally to 27,411 points. O'Neal, 37, would need four more seasons of play at this season's scoring pace to catch Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) for fourth."