PHOENIX - All of a sudden, Kevin Johnson is the Phoenix Suns' Ironman.

Johnson, branded injury-prone after missing 83 games in the last three seasons, is showing how to answer the bell. With injured Charles Barkley and John Williams sitting out last night's game against Houston, Johnson's speed, ballhandling and passing led the way to a 111-100 victory.

''We'd like to be 100 percent at this time, but seeing guys like Wayman Tisdale and Wesley Person and Chris Carr make contributions is important,'' he said.

Tisdale had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Johnson had 20 points and 12 assists for the Suns, who outscored the Rockets 38-23 in the third quarter to break away and snap a three-game losing streak.

''We came out determined to have a good third quarter, and our defense led to a lot of easy shots,'' said Person, who had 10 of his 17 points in the third period and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Michael Finley scored 18 points for the Suns, and Carr had 10 of his 14 point in the final period.

Johnson made two layups early in the final quarter, then passed to Carr for a layup that gave the Suns a 91-72 lead with 9:22 left.

Houston, playing without ailing Hakeem Olajuwon for the 10th time in 11 games, never managed a rally. Houston tried to come back with 3-pointers, but made only 10 of 41 for the game, 5 of 13 in the last period.

''We missed a lot of open shots,'' said Sam Cassell, who led the Rockets with 18 points.

Pete Chilcutt and Sam Mack each scored 15 for Houston.

All three are reserves, and they gave the Rockets a 50-50 split in scoring between starters and the bench.