Leandro Barbosa scored 27 points to help the Phoenix Suns rally for a 119-102 victory Wednesday over Maccabi Tel Aviv and earn third place in a four-team tournament.
Barbosa finished 9-of-12 from the field, including 5-for-8 on three-pointers. He also had six assists.
Marcus Banks scored 21 points, Shawn Marion had 14 and Victoria's Steve Nash added 13 points and seven assists.
Amare Stoudemire, coming back after missing nearly the entire last season with two knee operations, had 11 points and three rebounds in 25 minutes.
The Suns trailed by 13 late in the first quarter, but hit seven three-pointers in their last eight baskets in the second quarter, all by Barbosa, Nash and Raja Bell.
Early in the third, a three-pointer by Bell gave the Suns their first lead, 63-62. Maccabi later trailed by six when it went on a 10-0 run to regain the lead.
A three-point play by Stoudemire and a three-pointer by Barbosa gave the Suns an 80-79 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Suns built their lead and outscored Maccabi 39-23 in the final quarter.
``Maccabi played really well and gave us a real scare,'' Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. ``They are just very disciplined, and it's tough to beat teams like that no matter where they are from. It wasn't always pretty tonight. We had to grind it out tonight.''
D'Antoni was happy to see Stoudemire back.
``The biggest thing is that we got Amare started back,'' D'Antoni said. ``We're not going to really play well until he's back to 100 per cent.''
The Suns beat both Europeans teams they played on the tour, Lottomatica Roma and Maccabi, and lost 103-100 to the Philadelphia 76ers.
