Suns Strokes: Tyler Ulis sets career-high, but Phoenix falls to Rockets

PHOENIX — Short-handed. That’s the new norm for the Phoenix Suns. They had 10 available bodies for their matchup against visiting Houston on Sunday.

The Rockets played short-handed as well, and their short-handed lineup proved better than the Suns’.

Patrick Beverley (26 points), Lou Williams (23), Eric Gordon (22) and Troy Williams (21) all had 20-point performances for the Rockets in a 123-116 Suns loss in front of 17,378 at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

Beverley, who was questionable with a right ankle sprain, shot 11-of-19 with a trio of 3-pointers in setting a new career-high.

The win snapped a season-high three-game losing streak for the Rockets (52-25), who pulled out the win minus James Harden (flu-like symptoms), Ryan Anderson (right ankle sprain) and Trevor Ariza (personal reasons). It also completed the first season sweep in the history of the series with Phoenix that dates back to 1968.

The Suns, starting their final homestand of the season, once again got off to a slow start.

Down 15 in the first quarter, they battled back to take a brief lead in the second before the Rockets scored the final seven points of the half and went into the locker room up 59-54.

The Suns (22-56) played catchup the rest of the game.

Tyler Ulis scored a season-best 34 points, just missing a triple-double. He had nine rebounds and nine assists.

Devin Booker added 27, 23 coming in the second half.

On the bright side, the 12th straight loss and seventh in a row at home moved the Suns ahead of the Lakers, who beat Memphis earlier Sunday, for the second-worst record in the upside-down standings — otherwise known as having better odds to win the NBA Draft lottery.

THE GOOD

It had been two months, a stretch of 28 straight games, since Suns rookie Dragan Bender last saw action. He checked in at the 5:54 mark of the first quarter and over the next nine minutes recorded nine points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a 3-pointer, six rebounds and one block. Bender had not played since Feb. 1. He underwent right ankle surgery on Feb. 8.

Of the Suns’ 33 second-quarter points, Ulis had a hand in 19 of them. He scored 12 on 5-of-9 shooting, including a 3-pointer, while his three assists accounted for seven more points. During an 11-0 run, in which the Suns re-took the lead, 48-47, at the 4:49 mark, Ulis was responsible for eight points, including the go-ahead and-1 drawing the foul on Gordon.

Halftime failed to slow down Ulis. Of the Suns’ 29 third-quarter points, Ulis had a hand in 20 of them. He scored 11 on 5-of-6 shooting, including a 3-pointer, while his four assists accounted for nine. Through three quarters, Ulis led the Suns with 25 points, setting a new career-high. His previous best effort was 20 against Boston on March 5.

During one fourth-quarter stretch, Booker scored 12 of the Suns’ 16 points, including a run of six straight, all free throws. He finished with a team-best 14 points on 3-of-9 shooting and 8-of-8 from the foul line. For the game, Booker made every one of his 12 free throw attempts. Over his last five games, Booker is averaging 36.8 points and 7.2 assists.

THE BAD

It’s become a concerning pattern of late: the Suns falling behind big in the first quarter. Against the Rockets, the Suns trailed by as many as 15 points, the deficit growing to its apex after the visitors went on a 12-0 run to make the score 25-10 at the 4:14 mark. Beverley hit a pair of 3s. He and Gordon scored a game-high eight points in the period.

Already with an NBA record for most made 3-pointers in a single-season with 1,095 coming in, the Rockets’ total grew by nine at halftime. Five of those belonged to Troy Williams, who in his Rockets debut, shot 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and was 6-of-8 overall for a game-high 18 points in 19 first-half minutes. Williams played for the Suns’ Summer League team.

Frustrated and upset, Booker committed two fouls and got T’d up within a 14-second span late in the third quarter. First, he was called for an offensive foul at the 2:08 mark. Questionable at best. Then, he committed a shooting foul at the 1:54 mark, complained and was hit with a technical, his 10th, tying him with the traded P.J. Tucker for team-high honors.

Every one of the Suns’ fourth-quarter runs were answered by a Lou Williams basket, or so it seemed. Williams was the game’s high scorer in the final period with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting with two 3s and four free throws. Williams didn’t start, but he came off the bench to play 30 minutes. His 23-point total was more than five better than his season average of 17.7

STAT OF THE GAME

14-to-8: The Rockets made 14-of-38 3-pointers while the Suns made 8-of-34.

HE SAID IT

“We do get down early a lot,” Ulis said. “I think the last four games we were down like 20 early. We fall back and came back, but that just says we do fight as a team and we are not going to give up. But that is just something we need to work on as well.”

NOTED

– Alex Len (10 points, 12 rebounds) posted his 10th double-double of season.

– Jared Dudley scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, a season-high.

– T.J. Warren didn’t play because of illness; Derrick Jones Jr. made the start.

– Leandro Barbosa missed a fifth straight game with a right hamstring spasm.

– Eric Bledsoe sat out his 11th straight game and 12th overall on the season.

– Tyson Chandler and Brandon Knight did not play for the 21st straight game.

– Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was among those at game.

UP NEXT

The homestand continues with a visit from the NBA’s best team, the Golden State Warriors, on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

This is the fourth and final meeting this season, though the teams have not played since a 138-109 Warriors win at Oracle Arena on Dec. 3, when the Suns gave up season-highs in points and field goal percentage. Golden State’s 138 points came on an NBA season-best 62.8 percent shooting.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points as Klay Thompson added 26 and Kevin Durant scored 20.

Golden State has won 10 straight in the series.

Follow @CraigAZSports