Brandon Knight boosts the Suns to victory over Magic: By the Numbers
Mar 5, 2015, 3:07 AM | Updated: 3:12 am
Brandon Knight finally had his first full practice with the Phoenix Suns Tuesday, and maybe that made all the difference.
He poured in 28 points, doled out seven assists and had three steals in Phoenix’s 105-100 victory over the Orlando Magic Wednesday night.
The Magic’s Victor Oladipo did all he could to stop the Suns’ third-quarter comeback and posted 38 points in the effort, but still Phoenix outscored Orlando 62-48 in the second half.
Markieff Morris contributed 23 points and P.J Tucker’s 19 points all came in the second half as the Suns broke a two-game losing streak.
Phoenix (32-30) lost an opening lead and didn’t retake it until the third quarter, when the team went on a 21-7 run and outscored the Magic 34-17 in the period.
Oladipo bobbled in a layup off the tips of his fingers to close in on the Suns with about a minute left in the game, but Morris answered with a 21-foot jumper for the 99-96 lead. Knight then missed the potential game-sealing layup, but a clutch offensive rebound by guard Eric Bledsoe saved the possession.
Knight then sealed it with an incredible steal off an inbounds pass:
Brandon Knight with the SWIFTNESS. https://t.co/BhaPmOLC8F
— Big Blue Nation (@BigBlue9ation) March 5, 2015
What did the Suns’ road win look like, by the numbers?
28
Knight’s 28 points were his high as a Suns player. He was 4-of-9 from behind the arc and 10-of-12 from the line.
19 (part I)
Tucker has been incredibly clutch in the second half for the second straight game. He posted 18 points in the final two quarters against Miami earlier this week and had 19 against the Magic.
19 (part II)
The Suns almost gave the game away — along with the ball. They had 19 turnovers which led to 29 Magic points.
Bledsoe was the culprit of most of these giveaways with seven.
23/27
Solid free throw shooting helped the Suns edge Orlando. They hit 23-of-27 from the line and were fouled 26 times.
43
Oladipo carried the rest of the Magic on his back throughout much of the effort, netting his 38 points in just 43 minutes.
However, he turned the ball over seven times and finished with four fouls.
54-36
Phoenix managed to scrape out a victory despite getting outscored 54-36 in the paint.
4
Former Phoenix Suns shooter Channing Frye returned to the Valley with Orlando, but only put up four points in 15 minutes against his former team.
4-10
The Suns are now 4-10 in their last 14 games and remain hopeful of turning things around enough to snag the eight-spot in the Western Conference.
