"The Suns offense was four of a kind Sunday.

It posted 27 points in each of the four quarters against the Clippers. But the defense was like a royal flush, topping the revival of Steve Nash and the second-half shooting performance of Channing Frye.

The defensive effort prevented the Suns' goal of reaching the playoffs from moving out of sight and helped preserve a 108-99 victory at Staples Center, where they play again Tuesday against the Lakers.

The defense shut out the Clippers for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter and limited sure-fire Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin to 6-of-18 shooting before he fouled out with offensive fouls on consecutive possessions.

Phoenix moved into 10th place in the West and within two games of eighth-place Memphis thanks in large part to two players they did not have at the start of last week because of injuries.

Nash, in his third game back, posted 23 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds and made three 3-pointers for the second consecutive game, the first time he has done so this season. Nash was threatening to record his first triple-double since April 2006 but did not have a second-half rebound.

"It might take me three weeks to get another (rebound)," Nash joked. "I really didn't feel good before the game. But I worked hard to try to get myself going before the game, and it paid off, I guess. I felt pretty good."

Frye was playing his second game since missing 12 days because of a dislocated right shoulder but has performed like he never missed a game. On Sunday, he was assigned to defend Griffin, a player who so dominated the Suns in the previous meeting that Suns coach Alvin Gentry turned to small forward Grant Hill to cover him for the second half."