Ailing Nash hands Suns playoff slot

CHICAGO – Steve Nash scored seven of his 22 points in the final two minutes as the Phoenix Suns beat the Chicago Bulls, 111-105, to clinch a National Basketball Association playoff berth on Tuesday.

Jason Richardson scored 27 points and Channing Frye nailed a key three-pointer with 41.6 seconds to go for the Suns who won their eighth consecutive game.

Nash also had 10 assists and Amare Stoudemire added 21 points for the winners.

Nash played despite suffering from a cold and a nagging sore back.

“If I’m honest, I was taking so many meds for my back and cold that I actually felt a little loopy for most of the game,” Nash said. “It helped my back but I was a little dizzy out there. At the end of the game I just tried to hang in there. We had a chance to win and I was fortunate to make some plays when it counted.”

Flip Murray and Derrick Rose had 23 points each for Chicago who are 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the eighth playoff spot in East.

Canada’s Nash made a nifty pass to Grant Hill for a dunk with 23 seconds left to restore the Suns’ lead to three.

After Rose missed a three-pointer, Nash hit a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left.

Stoudemire dunked over James Johnson, was fouled and converted the three-point play to underscore a 10-0 first-quarter run by the Suns that opened up a 12-point lead.

The Suns’ lead didn’t last as Jannero Pargo hit a pair of three-pointers and Murray added one more in a 13-2 Chicago run that tied the game early in the second quarter.

Chicago held the lead for most of the third quarter and went to the fourth holding an 84-81 lead. (AP)