Suns Strokes: Phoenix locks up NBA’s best offense, beats Raptors

Three minutes into the third quarter, Devin Booker had missed three straight shots, making him 1-of-9 for the game.

But like any good shooter, he kept shooting and eventually the shots fell.

Five of them, including an and-one layup and three-pointer on back-to-back fourth-quarter possessions, helped the Phoenix Suns hold off the league’s most efficient scoring team in the Toronto Raptors, 99-91, in front of a sold out Talking Stick Resort Arena on Thursday night.

Booker scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, including a run of eight straight after the Raptors had pulled to within five, 90-85, with 3:25 to play.

The Suns (10-23) had lost two straight and six of seven, plus were coming off a disappointing effort the night before in San Antonio.

The Raptors, too, had played the night before, losing at Golden State. They’ve now dropped two in a row after a four-game winning streak.

DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry each had 24 points to lead the Raptors (22-10), but it was the Suns’ backcourt that shined brightest on this night.

Booker, who went 6-of-19 from the field, added five rebounds, five assists and a steal to compliment Eric Bledsoe’s double-double (22 points and 10 assists), which was his fourth of the season.

Bledsoe also stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds and a steal.

The game was sloppy through two quarters with a combined 22 turnovers, but it was the Suns who went into the locker room with the halftime lead, 42-40.

The 40 points were a Suns opponent first-half season-low.

THE GOOD

The hot hand belonged to Tyson Chandler, who matched his point total (four) from the night before in San Antonio in the game’s first six minutes. His alley-oop dunk at the 6:33 mark made it 10-4 Suns, a lead that would balloon to eight 40 seconds later when Bledsoe drove to the basket and hit a layup. Chandler and Bledsoe each scored four first-quarter points with Chandler adding a team-best five rebounds.

More from Bledsoe in the second quarter, as he made 4-of-6 shot attempts and his only free throw attempt, plus three rebounds and three assists. His nine points led all scorers in the period, while his 13 first-half points in 17 minutes matched his entire output from the night before in San Antonio when he played 27 minutes. Meanwhile, Alex Len grabbed four of his six first-half rebounds in the quarter.

It began with a Bledsoe 3-pointer and ended with T.J. Warren’s 16-foot jumper. The two plays bookended a 16-2 run in which the Suns went from down two, 48-46, to up 12, 62-50, at the 3:58 mark of the third quarter. The lead would balloon to as many as 14 points on three separate occasions, including the end of the period, when Warren beat the buzzer with a 10-foot floater. The Suns outscored the Raptors, 34-22.

Pressed into action after Brandon Knight picked up his third foul early in the second quarter, Suns rookie point guard Tyler Ulis played 15 minutes, finishing with 10 points, tying his career-high set at Indiana on Nov. 18. This was Ulis’ second double-digit scoring game as he set a new high with two three-point makes; the second of which made it 87-78 in favor of the Suns with 5:18 to play. Ulis was 4-of-6 from the field overall with an assist.

THE BAD

Five of the Suns’ nine first-quarter turnovers came over a four-minute stretch in which the Raptors went on a 14-4 run to close the period with an 18-16 lead. DeRozan scored 11 of the 14 points, hitting three jump shots, a layup and three free throws. He went 4-of-4 from the field after missing each of his first three shot attempts. The next highest Raptors scorer was Jonas Valancinuas with four points.

The Suns and Raptors combined for as many made field goals (13) as turnovers (13) in the first quarter. It got better, somewhat, in the second quarter with nine combined turnovers. The Suns, though, were on the hook for six of those miscues. They had 15 at halftime, leading to 11 Raptors points. Bledsoe had a team-high four with Leandro Barbosa and Warren each contributing two off the bench.

Eight minutes into the third quarter, Chandler appeared to hurt his ankle. He remained on the floor until fouling Lowry to stop the action at the 3:47 mark. Chandler, who finished with seven points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes, limped to the bench, where he was attended to by head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson. Len entered the game and played the rest of the quarter, hitting 1-of-2 free throw attempts.

Through three quarters, the Raptors had made only two of their 19 attempted 3-pointers. They doubled that, and then some, in the fourth quarter with Lowry and Cory Joseph each hitting a pair, and Norman Powell adding one in the period’s first five minutes. Lowry’s second 3 pulled the Raptors to within six, 84-78, with 7:20 to play. Overall, the Raptors went 7-of-27 (25.9 percent) from beyond the arc.

STAT OF THE GAME

91: The Suns limited the Raptors to a season-low-tying 91 points, their fewest since Nov. 6 against Sacramento as it was just the third time Toronto failed to reach 100 points over their last 26 games. The Raptors lead the NBA — yes, over the Warriors — by scoring 113.5 points per 100 possessions.

HE SAID IT

“It was a great learning lesson for us to come out tonight in the second half and impose our will defensively,” said head coach Earl Watson, who made his debut as then-interim head coach and the 17th head coach in Suns history against Toronto on Feb. 2, 2016. “A lot of teams say, or coaches say: if they hit us, we have to sustain that hit and come back. Our thing is, let’s be the first one to hit. Let’s come out, let’s be the aggressors and make them try to counterattack us, and we came out in the third quarter and did a great job.”

NOTED

– Jared Dudley was a DNP-Coach’s Decision for a third straight game as Dragan Bender (11 minutes) once again saw action.

–  Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was among those in attendance, two days before playing Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

UP NEXT

The stay at home was a brief one as the Suns now head out for a two-game road trip and New Year’s Eve meeting against Gordon Hayward and the Utah Jazz on Saturday, Dec. 31.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Two days later, the Suns will play at the Clippers.

This will be the second of three meetings against the Jazz, who have won five straight in the series, including the first matchup earlier this season in Utah.

Back on Dec. 6 at Vivint Smart Home Arena, the Jazz held on for a 112-105 victory after leading by as many as 23. Hayward scored a game-high 28 points, while Rudy Gobert had a career-high 22.

Booker led the Suns with 21.

Overall, the Suns lead 91-82 in the all-time series.

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