Highlights:
Bearing all that in mind, Bledsoe certainly had his fair share of memorable moments as well. On Dec. 8, for example, Bledsoe redeemed his poor showing against the Clippers in November with a 27-16-11 triple-double against his former mentor, CP3.
The Suns lost that game in overtime on Blake Griffin‘s step-back three at the buzzer, but it was a good sign of things to come for Bledsoe nonetheless.
Two weeks later, Bledsoe dropped his second triple-double of the season with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a win over the Dallas Mavericks. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but his final rebound provided him, Goran Dragic, and Suns fans everywhere with a laugh:
Bledsoe didn’t have another triple-double the rest of the season, but he had some pretty notable stat lines that fell just short. Against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 21, he put up 33 points, 10 boards and six dimes in a win. On Mar. 15, he finished one rebound shy of a 21-11-10 triple-double and was the only driving force in a win over the lowly New York Knicks.
Even though he had a poor showing in the Suns’ first game after the trade deadline, he made fans feel better about the future with his best game of the season, a head-to-head showdown with Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. It went back and forth between the two unbelievably athletic point guards until Phoenix prevailed 117-113 in overtime.
The win kept Phoenix’s playoff hopes alive, it convinced many (myself included) that Bledsoe was ready to lead and it was even more impressive when you remember he had to guard Westbrook all game. Russ finished with a 39-14-11 triple-double, but it took him 38 shots to get there. Bledsoe answered with 28 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and four steals on 11-of-16 shooting.
It was the best win of Phoenix’s season and showed everyone what Bledsoe could do when he’s fully locked in. He was attacking the basket, he was defending with all he had against a top-two point guard and he answered Westbrook’s every clutch play with one of his own:
Bledsoe laid it all on the floor. After he swatted a Dion Waiters layup attempt into the bleachers on one of his patented chase-down blocks, Bledsoe’s momentum carried him into the tunnel. He stood there before the amped up crowd, soaking it all in as the cheers grew louder. In that moment, it felt like he had arrived.
We all know what happened after that game: the Suns got embarrassed in a 101-74 ass-whipping against the San Antonio Spurs, Keef called out the fans and the Suns’ playoff hopes went to hell not long after that. But Bledsoe still wasn’t finished with his season, dropping a career-high 34 points in a road win over the Houston Rockets on Mar. 21.
He also had eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block while shooting 11-for-19 from the floor.
Finally, even though it was normally Markieff Morris who made clutch shots only to watch them rendered irrelevant by a gamewinner on the next play, it also happened once to Bledsoe against the Golden State Warriors.
With 6.8 seconds remaining, head coach Jeff Hornacek drew up a beautiful inbounds play that led to an easy reverse layup for Bledsoe. The only problem was there were still 4.5 seconds on the clock, which gave Harrison Barnes time for his game-winner. Still, it was another example of Bledsoe’s ability to attack the basket with game on the line:
Next: Final Grade