Suns go down nearly 40 points in Indiana, fall to Pacers
Jan 24, 2018, 8:42 PM
Phoenix Suns' TJ Warren is defended by Indiana Pacers' Victor Oladipo during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
INDIANAPOLIS — Thaddeus Young scored 22 points, Victor Oladipo had 21 points and nine assists and the Indiana Pacers pulled away from the Phoenix Suns for a 116-101 victory on Wednesday night.
The Pacers have won five of six, blowing out the Suns for the second time in 10 days.
Josh Jackson had 20 points while Greg Monroe had 16 points and a season-high 17 rebounds to lead Phoenix, which never led and didn’t get closer than 10 over the final three quarters. The Suns have lost two straight and five of six.
Indiana sealed it by closing the first half with a 13-4 flurry to make it 63-44. It opened the second half on a 16-2 run to make it 79-46 with 9:20 left.
It didn’t take long for Phoenix’s poor first-half performance to turn into a far more embarrassing finish.
Bojan Bogdanovic opened the second half with a dunk, Domantas Sabonis followed that with a dunk and a layup, and Joe Young added a 21-footer. By the time Phoenix called timeout, it was trailing 71-44, Tyson Chandler was on the bench with four fouls. On the final stop of a four-game road trip, the Suns looked like they were ready to head home.
It was never close after the first six minutes.
Indiana used a 13-4 run late in the first quarter to take a 25-14 lead and extended the margin to 43-28 midway through the second quarter before sealing the win with the two big runs.
TIP-INS
Suns: It took Phoenix more than 4½ minutes to make a basket in the second half. … The Suns were 9 of 35 on 3-pointers but still extended the league’s longest active streak of consecutive games with a 3 to 1,106. Dallas holds the NBA record at 1,108. … Devin Booker and Troy Daniels each scored 19 points. … Phoenix was swept by Indiana for the second time in three years.
Pacers: Sabonis had 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists. … Bogdanovic scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Al Jefferson had 10 points. … Lance Stephenson had seven points and nine rebounds. … The 15-point victory margin coupled with last week’s 23-point rout gave Indiana its most lopsided season sweep over Phoenix in franchise history. The previous record of 30 points came in 2003-04. … The Pacers shot 56.3 percent from the field and are 16-0 when topping 50 percent this season…. Indiana has held nine of its last 10 opponents to 32.1 percent shooting or worse from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
Suns: Play their first home game in 12 days when the Knicks visit Friday.
Pacers: Can sweep the four-game season series by winning Friday at Cleveland.
