By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer
PHOENIX (AP) -- Life under the relaxed reins of Paul Silas just keeps getting better for the Charlotte Bobcats.
Stephen Jackson scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and the Bobcats won for the fourth time in five games, beating the Phoenix Suns 114-107 on Wednesday night.
Gerald Wallace had 16 of his 22 points in the final two quarters for Charlotte, which improved to 10-6 since Silas replaced Larry Brown as coach. After a 94-89 win at Sacramento on Tuesday, the Bobcats are off to a 2-0 start on a season-high, six-game road trip.
"The focus of these guys has really been phenomenal these last few games," Silas said. "That is one thing that carries us, that and they don't get rattled. I applaud them for that because before they would. There is no way we would have won this game tonight with them shooting 3s as they did."
It's the first time Charlotte has won consecutive road games this season.
"We are a confident team right now," Jackson said, "and we credit that to coach Silas. He gives us confidence and lets us play and it is starting to show."
Steve Nash had 27 points and 15 assists and Vince Carter scored 22 for Phoenix on his 34th birthday, but the Bobcats shot 51 percent to beat the Suns for the fourth time in a row.
The Suns, back from a five-game trip, lost their third straight after winning a season-high five in a row. They made 16 of 32 3-pointers, 12 of 19 in the second half, and it still wasn't enough.
Wallace credited Silas' "demeanor, his style, the way he coaches."
"He always tells us everything is all right, everything is OK, we're doing good, we're doing good," Wallace said.
Nash, who went 4 for 4 on 3s, connected from deep to cut the Bobcats' lead to 110-107 with 3:03 remaining but the Suns didn't score again. Gerald Henderson's 10-footer with 2:39 to play made it 112-107, and after consecutive fouls were called against Channing Frye, D.J. Augustin finished off the scoring with a pair of free throws with 1:49 left.
"We have to do better at finishing games," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "The bottom line is that there was 1:17 to go and we never got possession of the ball on three missed shots."
Charlotte was 25 of 29 at the free-throw line, compared with Phoenix's 9 of 10. The Suns didn't attempt a free throw in the second half, while the Bobcats were 13 of 16.
Marcin Gortat matched his career high with 16 points for the Suns but was scoreless and took just one shot in the second half.
"We have to will ourselves to win. We need to feel good about ourselves," Carter said.
Wallace made six of seven shots in the second half. Boris Diaw finished with 18 points and Augustin and Henderson had 15 apiece for Charlotte.
The Bobcats led nearly the entire first half, going up 53-45 on Wallace's tip-in 3:37 before the break. Carter responded with consecutive 3-pointers as the Suns outscored Charlotte 12-6 the rest of the half to cut the Bobcats' lead to 59-57.
The Suns made their first six 3s of the second half and were 8 of 11 from long range in the third quarter, but still trailed 92-87 entering the fourth.
NOTES: Nick Corrales, a member of the Suns' `Soul Patrol' that does a
dunk-from-the trampoline performance between the third and fourth
quarters, followed his dunk by going headfirst through the basket
himself. ... Nash has seven 20-point, 15-assist games this season. The
rest of the NBA has three. ... Bobcats owner Michael Jordan is on the
trip with his team and sat near Charlotte's bench. ... Carter moved
ahead of former Sun Tom Chambers into 36th on the NBA career scoring
list. ... Nash's only free throw of the night came on a technical.
Updated January 26, 2011
