HOUSTON (AP) – Shawn Marion scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half and also had 18 rebounds to help the Phoenix Suns win their seventh straight, 111-94 over the Houston Rockets on Monday night.

Marion has scored 30 points or more in all three games since the All-Star break.

The Suns overcame a four-point deficit in the third quarter and took a 69-64 lead with a 9-0 run, highlighted by Steve Nash’s acrobatic reverse layup.

Then Marion took over.

He scored on four straight Suns possessions to push the score to 82-72 at the end of the third.

In the fourth, Marion hit a turnaround jumper and two free throws, before 3s by Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa made the score 92-74.

Things got worse for the Rockets from there as they badly missed easy shots, had passes bounce out of their hands or off their faces and couldn’t get anything going.

As unlikely as it seems, the game wasn’t as bad as Houston’s other two meetings with the Suns this season when the average margin of defeat was 23 points.

It was the Suns’ first game since learning that president and general manager Bryan Colangelo had resigned and is expected to join the Toronto Raptors as president and general manager Tuesday.

Nash added 23 points and had 10 assists for Phoenix and Boris Diaw had 16 points.

The Rockets shot 23 percent from 3-point range, which made it impossible to rebound once they get down by double digits. Houston was again led by Yao Ming, who had 27 points and 18 rebounds.

Juwan Howard had 19 points, Tracy McGrady added 13.

The Rockets, who had won four straight at home, led 44-35 with about 4 minutes left in the half before Phoenix scored 14 straight points, capped by 3s from Eddie House and James Jones, to take a 49-44 lead. The Suns led 52-49 at halftime.

Notes: Rockets forward Stromile Swift missed his fourth straight game because of a sprained ankle. … The Suns handed the Rockets their worst loss of the season in their last meeting, beating them 109-75. … Yao was selected the Western Conference player of the week Monday. He averaged almost 27 points and 16 rebounds in wins over the Clippers, Warriors and Magic.

AP-ES-02-27-06 2307EST