Suns Strokes: Goodwin game-winning shot gives Suns 98-95 win over Hawks

It was not how the final play was designed.

But it worked; and for the Phoenix Suns, it could not have come at a better time.

With the ball in his hands and the last 20 seconds ticking down, Archie Goodwin dribbled and dribbled and dribbled some more, all the while keeping an eye on the clock.

Then, with no time to spare, Goodwin jumped from the top of the key and released the ball just beyond the outstretched hand of Thabo Sefolosha.

The ball splashed through the net, leaving only :00.1 on the clock.

Goodwin’s tiebreaking, go-ahead 24-foot 3-pointer gave the Suns the lead and ultimately the win, their first in 17 days, 98-95, over the Atlanta Hawks in front of a Saturday night crowd of 17,034 at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

“When I shot it, I thought it was going in. It felt real good,” Goodwin said.

All five Suns starters scored in double figures, led by Goodwin’s 24 points.

Alex Len and P.J. Tucker each had 16, while Devin Booker added 15 and Tyson Chandler 13.

Len and Chandler finished with double-doubles with Chandler tying the team record with 27 rebounds, 13 on the offensive end to set the franchise mark.

Len grabbed 12 rebounds.

For the Suns (14-31), the win snapped a six-game losing streak, while handing the Hawks (26-19) their second straight defeat.

Kent Bazemore scored 21 points to pace Atlanta, which played without leading scorer and rebounder Paul Millsap, who was not with the team for personal reasons.

The Suns were minus starters Brandon Knight (goin) and Jon Leuer (back spasm) plus Markieff Morris (shoulder), but still found a way to enter the win column for the first time since Jan. 6.

THE GOOD

After never leading two nights earlier against San Antonio, the Suns never trailed, at least for the first 10:16 of the first quarter. With Booker and Tucker each hitting 3s, the Suns jumped in front 14-6 at the 7:23 mark, their largest advantage of the period as they took advantage of a Hawks team that missed seven of their first 10 shot attempts. Booker scored a game-high 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a pair of 3s, in the opening 12 minutes of action.

Coming off his season-high 20-rebound effort against San Antonio, Chandler grabbed eight boards in the first quarter and nine in the second for a first-half total of 17, one shy of the franchise record held by Paul Silas and Neal Walk. Chandler, who added seven points and four assists at the break, became the first Suns player wtih 14 or more rebounds in at least three straight games since Amar’e Stoudemire did so in three straight from Feb. 25-28, 2007.

Nineteen seconds into the second half Tucker fed Len for an alley-oop dunk. Later, Len added a nine-foot turnaround jump shot plus went 4-of-4 from the foul line for a team-best eight-point third-quarter. He also had five rebounds in the period. Len finished with his fourth double-double of the season and the 14th of his career. His five assists marked a new career-high, his second straight game setting a career-high in assists after a four-dime effort against San Antonio.

Getting his second straight start at point guard, Goodwin once again topped 20 points, making it his first consecutive 20 or more point scoring streak of his career. Goodwin set a career-high in minutes played with 41, besting his 39 minutes played against San Antonio. Goodwin also tied his career-high in free throws made with eight, which also previously occurred on Thursday. Between the two games, he made 16 straight from the foul line before his miss in the fourth quarter.

With his 10 rebounds in the second half, six in the fourth quarter, Chandler became the first player in Suns history with consecutive games of 20 or more rebounds, something he had accomplished one other time in his career. Chandler tied a season-high with five assists, joining Kevin Love, Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman as the only players since 1985-86 to record games of at least 13 points, 27 rebounds and five assists (Basketball-Reference).

THE BAD

Immediately after taking an eight-point first quarter lead, the Suns surrendered a 16-6 Hawks run capped by Bazemore’s fastbreak lay-up to put Atlanta ahead, 22-20, at the 1:44 mark; their first advantage of the period. Scott had five points and Horford three during the 5:39 stretch of action. Al Horford finished the quarter with a team-high seven points and four rebounds.

Though they enjoyed a 48-39 lead at halftime, the Suns entered the break missing their last 13 shot attempts. T.J. Warren’s 11-foot floater at the 7:24 mark of the second quarter was the last made field goal, and it put the Suns ahead, 41-33. Despite the poor shooting in the period, the Suns (5-of-22 FG) were able to maintain their advantage by hitting eight of their 11 free throws.

Over an eight-possession stretch midway through the third quarter, the Suns turned the ball over five times. Booker twice threw the ball away, Len passed the ball out of bounds and was called for an offensive foul, while Goodwin had his pocket picked by Jeff Teague. Overall, the Suns committed six turnovers in the period, though resulting in only four points for the Hawks.

Four times the Hawks tied the game in the fourth quarter. Twice it was Bazemore hitting a 3; once to square the game at 77 at the 7:37 mark and then his 23-foot jumper knotted things at 93 with 47.4 seconds to play. Bazemore scored 13 points in the period, but missed a go-ahead free throw after Booker fouled him on a game-tying lay-up with 21.4 seconds left.

STAT OF THE GAME

1: Suns won despite scoring less than 100 points for the first time this season (1-20)

HE SAID IT

“We wanted to get it down to the last shot and have Archie come off a little double screen there. We thought that maybe they might leave Alex wide open at the top, maybe at the top of the key for a nice little shot, but Archie came off, then we’re kind of stuck, but he made a great play out of it,” head coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Again, it’s valuable experience for these guys to be in a game like that and win. If you’re in those games and you end up losing it at the end, it could be demoralizing. But, to still hang in there and get the win is big.”

NOTED

Goodwin’s game-winner was the Suns second game-winning shot in the final second this season as Mirza Teletovic hit a go-ahead, seven-foot, fadeaway jumper with :00.3 remaining to win in Chicago, 103-101, on Dec. 7.

Chandler and Len became the first Suns duo to post a double-double in points and rebounds, while also recording five or more assists since Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion on Dec. 23, 2000, vs. the Nuggets.

Technically, before the game even officially began, referee Josh Tiven blew his whistle and signaled a jump ball violation on Chandler, who apparently touched the ball prior to it reaching its highest point on the opening tip.

Knight and Morris each missed their second straight game (third and ninth overall, respectively), Leuer his third (fourth overall); all of which left 10 available players including two (Lorenzo Brown and Cory Jefferson) on 10-day contracts.

Booker entered the game averaging 17.7 points per game in the month of January, the third-highest total among all NBA rookies and sophomores behind Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins (21.7) and Philadelphia’s Jahlil Okafor (18.3).

Among those in attendance was Suns Ring of Honor member Kevin Johnson, who received a standing ovation when introduced at the end of the first quarter; the current mayor of Sacramento and his wife sat courtside.

UP NEXT

The Suns will pack their bags for a week’s worth of games beginning Tuesday, Jan. 26 in Philadelphia. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

The six-day trip also includes stops in Cleveland, New York and Dallas.

After sweeping the Sixers in each of the past two seasons, the Suns will look to split this season’s two-game set after dropping the first meeting in Phoenix on Dec. 26.

That was likey the low point of the Suns 2015-16 season.

Their losing streak extended to four straight and Eric Bledsoe left in the second quarter to a left knee injury—and subsequently season-ending surgery—as Philadelphia ended a franchise-record road losing streak, notching their first road win of the season (second overall) with a 111-104 decision at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

The Sixers snapped a 23-game road losing streak, 12-game streak overall and five-game streak against the Suns behind 22 points from Isaiah Canaan and 17 from Nik Stauskas.

Knight led the Suns with 21 points and Chandler added his third double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Overall, the Suns have won 32 of the past 46 regular-season meetings.

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