Suns Stay Sharp, Shine on, and Start Streak

In a battle of the two Western Conference basement-dwellers, Suns take a step forward, leaving the Mavericks behind.

The Suns won their second game in a row – the second time this season they have had a two-game winning streak – over a league-bottom team and put a half game gap between themselves and the worst record in the Western Conference.

The two teams battled back and forth in the kind of closely fought match that you would expect from two teams in their position (there were 11 ties and 14 lead changes and the largest lead of the game came from Phoenix with only second remaining).

After a slow start by the Suns, scoring 19 points in the first quarter, (6 below their season average) the team slowly picked up steam and ended up building on their previous period’s scoring in each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters.

The turning point for Phoenix was the intensity in the second half, and it was led by Eric Bldsoe.

Bledsoe scored 9 points and recorded one steal in the third quarter, at times taking control of the game on both offense and defense. However, following a Dirk Nowitzki turnover with 3.7 seconds remaining in the third, PJ Tucker inbounded a pass but passed it straight to Devin Harris who quickly turned and hit a three-point shot with .3 remaining, sending the Suns into the 4th down 2, rather than up at least 1.

Taking charge again was Bledsoe who after being substituted in with 8:12 remaining, scored or assisted on 7 of the final 9 possessions that did not end in free throws, scoring 11 points himself in the process. The two teams battled back and forth, but following back-to-back layups by Tucker with 5:20 and 4:37 remaining, each assisted on by Bledsoe, the Suns pulled away for the win.

In total, Bledsoe finished with a game highs of 26 points and 7 assists, although he did not record a rebound for the first time all season. He finished the game shooting 56.2%, and 5 of his 7 missed shots came from beyond the arc.

Devin Booker was second on the team in scoring with 22, shooting a solid 52.9% from the field and nailing all 3 three’s that he attempted. This was not only the first time that he has made every three that he has attempted this season, but the first time that he has done so since December 11, 2015 against Portland where he shot 2-2. Nine days earlier on December 2, he finished a game against Detroit 3-3, the only other time in his career that he has done so.

Tyson Chandler scored only 3 points although he nearly hit the 20 rebound mark for the second game in a row grabbing 18. He also dished out 3 assists, second on the team tonight.

Alex Len scored 14 points on 50% and grabbed 7 boards. Marquese Chriss grabbed 8 boards, the third time this season he has had at least 8, and the first time since December 17. P.J. Tucker secured 9 caroms.

For Dallas, Deron Williams attempted to follow Eric Bledsoe’s lead and take the offense into his own hands late, scoring 13 points in the second half and finishing with a team-highs of 20 points on 8-14 shooting and 6 assists.

Harrison Barnes scored 19 and grabbed 6 rebounds, and Seth Curry scored 16 on 66.7% shooting.

Dirk Nowitzki shot 5-14 including 3-7 from three to finish with 13 points. He led the Mavs with 7 boards.

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Opinions from the Valley of the Suns

This Suns victory came exactly how fans would hope would happen against a similarly bad (record-wise) team like the Dallas Mavericks. In back-to-back games the Suns faced two of the league’s worst and came out on top. Against Miami in a bit of a second-half blowout fashion, and tonight in a closely fought game, with the Suns executing better down the stretch to pull away late.

The Suns’ schedule doesn’t get much easier than these past two games over the next two weeks (although they do play the Mavericks again in Mexico City on the 12th). Eric Bledsoe has had streaks in his career like the one he is currently on scoring and recording assists at rates like some of the better points guards in the league, and it would be nice to see this continue indefinitely, regardless of the talent on the other team the Suns are facing.

Next up is Cleveland, which will be a huge uphill battle as they attempt to try and win three straight. But even if the Suns lose (which would be disappointing), seeing Bledsoe continue this offensive run, seeing Booker try and find some consistency in his shooting, and seeing if the Suns play solid defense at least giving their offense a chance – a team that has suddenly become a determined defensive stalwart in the NBA allowing under 100 points in 4 of their last 5 games -would be impressive.