<table> </table> PHOENIX | Shaquille O&#8217;Neal made an early departure from Amare Stoudemire&#8217;s 26th birthday party. But Stoudemire and the rest of the already short-handed Phoenix Suns did fine without him Sunday.</p><p>Stoudemire had 29 points and 11 rebounds, and the Suns overcame O&#8217;Neal&#8217;s second-quarter ejection and beat the Detroit Pistons 104-86.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s good to see our guys come out and jump on a very good basketball team,&#8221; Phoenix coach Terry Porter said.</p><p>Steve Nash, back from a one-game suspension for his part in a skirmish with several Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, added 17 points and seven assists for the Suns, who were without two players even before O&#8217;Neal was tossed for a flagrant foul in the first half.</p><p>The Suns made 14 of their first 19 shots Sunday and never trailed again.</p><p>Richard Hamilton scored 19 for the Pistons, and Allen Iverson hit only four of 17 shots and scored nine points.</p><p>Detroit entered the game 3-0 on a four-game western swing that began Tuesday. In the Pistons&#8217; previous stop, they handed the Lakers their first loss of the season Friday night in Los Angeles.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re playing well,&#8221; Stoudemire said of the Pistons, &#8220;so it&#8217;s going to help us with our confidence.&#8221;</p><p>O&#8217;Neal had 10 of his 12 points in the second quarter before his night came to an early end.</p><p>The call was made with 5 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first half when Detroit&#8217;s Rodney Stuckey went up for a layup and O&#8217;Neal sent him crashing chest-first to the court. The flagrant foul two, which is an automatic ejection, was upheld after a review by referee Ken Mauer.</p><p>O&#8217;Neal said the play was simply a result of &#8220;the laws of physics.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The laws of physics say that a body in motion stays in motion. So if you have two objects meet in the air, the smaller object is going to fall much harder,&#8221; O&#8217;Neal said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never been the type of player to take anybody out, so I obviously went to the ball. The little guy ran into a brick wall.&#8221;</p><p>O&#8217;Neal stayed on the court to argue vehemently as Mauer ignored him before O&#8217;Neal finally left as US Airways Center echoed with boos.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">OTHER GAMES </span></strong><br /> &#8226;At Toronto 107, Miami 96</p><p>&#8226;Orlando 90, at Charlotte 85</p><p>&#8226;Dallas 124, at New York 114, OT</p><p>&#8226;At Denver 90, Minnesota 84</p><p>&#8226;San Antonio 90, at Sacramento 88</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">HIGHLIGHTS </span></strong><br /> &#8226;<strong>Dirk Nowitzki </strong>scored seven of his season-high 39 points in overtime for the Mavericks, who snapped a five-game losing streak.</p><p>&#8226;<strong>Chauncey Billups </strong>scored 26 points for the Nuggets, who ar 5-1 since acquiring him from the Pistons.</p><p>&#8226;The Raptors&#8217; <strong>Jermaine O&#8217;Neal </strong>had 11 points and 18 rebounds. Former K-State star <strong>Michael Beasley </strong>scored 13 for the Heat.</p><p><strong>&#8226;Michael Finley </strong>scored 21 points, and <strong>Tim Duncan </strong>added 20 for the Spurs. Duncan&#8217;s short jumper tied it with 49 seconds left, and his bank shot put San Antonio ahead 90-88 with 15.5 seconds left.</p><p>&#8226;The Magic won despite <strong>Dwight Howard </strong>scoring only four points, all on free throws.</p><p></div>