Point guard Eric Bledsoe coming up clutch for the Phoenix Suns

PHOENIX – It’s no secret Eric Bledsoe wants the ball in his hands, especially late in games with the outcome in the balance.

And recently he’s thrived in that role as the point guard for the Phoenix Suns.

Over the past three games, Bledsoe has scored 34 fourth-quarter/overtime points while shooting 60.8 percent (14-of-23) from the field and making all but one of his 12 free throw attempts. In those final periods, Bledsoe has also added five rebounds, three assists and three steals in leading the Suns to a pair of victories.

“I’m just being more aggressive, being confident; taking the shot and living with it,” he said Wednesday.

In Los Angeles last Friday, Bledsoe scored eight of his team’s final 14 points to beat the Lakers, 119-115. Two nights later, he had 12 plus four more in overtime in a 120-119 loss to the Pelicans. Then on Tuesday, Bledsoe went for 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help the Suns rally past the Knicks, 113-111.

And it was Bledsoe who sealed the win with a reverse lay-up, capping a personal run of eight straight points during which time the Suns went from trailing by three to up one with 30 seconds to play.

“I couldn’t let that game slip away,” he said, smiling.

Bledsoe’s recent late-game heroics have put him alongside the NBA’s best clutch players; clutch defined as during the fourth quarter or overtime, with less than five minutes remaining and neither team ahead by more than five points.

Only Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City has scored more clutch points (111) than Bledsoe’s 76 this season.

“You just feel it. It’s just something you just feel by the emotion of the crowd and the feel of the game,” Bledsoe said, when asked how he knows when to take over a game.

And it’s not only the fourth quarter or overtime when Bledsoe is excelling. It’s the entire game.

His 31-point performance against New York extended his career-long stretch of scoring 30 points or more to three games, becoming the first Suns player with three consecutive 30-point games since Amar’e Stoudemire’s three-game run from March 3-6 in 2010.

“Bled has played amazing the last three games. I’m not sure if there’s another point guard that’s played on that level,” head coach Earl Watson said. “(He’s) plus-30 in points, plus-eight in assists, all the clutch baskets that you need, his presence on the defensive end, rebounding, running the team, giving us a chance to win at the end of games, playing through overtime. He’s taken the load and he’s moving forward.”

Bledsoe, who has bumped his scoring average to 20.3 points per game, will look to make it four straight 30-point games when the Suns host the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday to close out this three-game homestand.

FREE THROWS

— The injury list is a long one for the Suns ahead of their matchup against the Spurs. Three players are considered questionable: guard Brandon Knight (left hand sprain), center Alex Len (right hip contusion) and forward T.J. Warren (minor head injury).

Warren has not played since Nov. 18 and has missed 12 straight games but his return “could be (Thursday),” according to Watson.

— In the past two games, forward P.J. Tucker has defended two of the NBA’s better scorers — and done so extremely well. Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony, the leading scorers of the Hornets and Knicks, respectively, shot a combined 21.8 percent (7-of-32: Davis 4-of-17, Anthony 3-of-15) with Tucker in their face.

“The analytics to that is straight heart,” Watson said. “It’s hard to find a lot of guys with heart that big. It’s very difficult. It’s rare in this league because this is an offensive league, but we all know defense wins.”

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