Suns Strokes: Bledsoe, Tucker lead Phoenix past Knicks in OT

With their former head coach on the opposite sideline, the Phoenix Suns looked nothing like the team that had lost four of five, six of eight and its last two games at home.

And then the fourth quarter started.

A 12-point lead vanished over a 6:30 stretch in which the Suns missed 9-of-11 shot attempts and committed five turnovers during a 19-4 New York Knicks run for a 92-89 deficit.

The Suns have not played well with the lead as of late and Tuesday night’s game was no exception. However, the 16,429 in attendance at Talking Stick Resort Arena went home happy as the Suns pulled out a 113-111 overtime win, spoiling Jeff Hornacek’s return.

What saved the Suns? There were many contributors, but perhaps the biggest was Eric Bledsoe. As cliché as it sounds, he saved his best for last with 16 points combined in the fourth quarter and overtime; the latter of which saw him score eight straight points, including a reverse layup to give the Suns (8-17) the lead for good, 111-110, with 30 seconds to play.

He finished with a team-high 31 points, shooting 9-of-21 from the field and a perfect 12-of-12 from the foul line, with six rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Bledsoe was one of six Suns players in double figures.

Both Tyson Chandler (13 points and 23 rebounds) and Marquese Chriss (14 and 12) recorded double-doubles. It was Chriss’ first of his career.

Brandon Knight added 14 points off the bench with P.J. Tucker (13) and Devin Booker (12) joining in on the fun as well.

Tucker excelled on both ends of the court, holding Knicks leading scorer Carmelo Anthony to 3-of-15 shooting for 13 points, nine points below his season average.

Kristaps Porzingis scored a game-high 34 and Kyle O’Quinn had 22 for the Knicks (14-11) as they outscored the Suns 28-16 in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

THE GOOD

It was Chriss who had the hot hand early. He scored seven of his team-high-tying nine first-quarter points during a 12-0 run which put the Suns ahead 17-6 with 6:59 to go in the period. Chriss hit two free throws, had a follow-slam and made a 3-pointer. Tucker also had nine points in the game’s first 12 minutes, shooting 4-of-5 with a three to help the Suns post their third straight 30-point first quarter.

In less than eight first-half minutes, Knight surpassed his point total (7) from Sunday. On back-to-back second-quarter possessions, he made a 3-pointer and 10-foot jumper. He later added another three, which handed the Suns their largest lead, 44-32, at the 7:49 mark. Knight finished the period with a team-high eight points and had 11 at halftime on 4-of-7 shooting with two assists and one rebound.

For his seventh block of the season, Booker made it a good one, an ESPN SportsCenter Top-10 nominee, perhaps. He met Anthony at the rim as Anthony attacked. With both hands straight up, Booker got all ball, the impact sent Anthony to the floor and the crowd to its feet. Booker also scored five points in the period, giving him 10 for the game, the fifth Suns player in double figures through three quarters.

For the second straight game Chandler set a new season-high in rebounds. By reaching the 20-board mark, he duplicated a feat only he has accomplished as the lone player in Suns history with consecutive 20+ rebounds (he originally did so from Jan. 21-23 last season). Chandler, 34, is the oldest NBA player with back-to-back games of 20+ rebounds since the Clippers’ Marcus Camby (34) in 2009.

THE BAD

The Suns’ good start cooled midway through the first quarter. At one point they missed seven of eight shots, including three-point attempts by Chriss, Bledsoe and Tucker. The drought allowed the Knicks to cut into the 11-point deficit. Joakim Noah scored six straight points, while Courtney Lee and Derrick Rose each added two to make it a 21-17 ballgame at the 3:08 mark.

For whatever reason, the Suns just don’t handle leads well. Up 14, they allowed the Knicks go on an 11-0 run highlighted by a pair of Porzingis 3-pointers. Lee also made a 3-pointer and hit a 15-foot jumper; the latter of which made it a 46-43 ballgame at the 4:43 mark. Porzingis finished the quarter with a team-high 10 points and had 14 at halftime on 5-of-11 shooting.

Things got chippy between the two teams in the third quarter. Upset with Porzingis for running over Bledsoe, Chriss threw down Porzingis, who popped up and shoved Chriss as Chriss turned away. Chriss was assessed a flagrant foul-1 (his second of the season) and hit with a technical foul (his fourth of the season). Porzingis also was T’d up at the 8:54 mark of the period.

STAT OF THE GAME

33-8, 61-43: The Suns outscored the Knicks by 25 points on the fastbreak and were plus-18 on the glass. The 61 rebounds are a season-high and the Suns’ most since Feb. 25, 2015 at Denver (65)

HE SAID IT

“Marquese Chriss has to become our Draymond Green. And I think he gave you an example or a flash of what that can be, as far as getting the flagrant, protecting his teammates. I have no problem with that,” head coach Earl Watson said. “We need a presence on the court that brings a fight to our team that is kind of contagious. I build unity, it builds momentum. We want him to be a x-factor. We want him to be intimidating since he plays so high above the rim.”

NOTED

– The Suns played their second straight overtime game and fifth already this season, improving to 3-2 in those games. It’s their most overtime games at this point in the season in the history of the franchise.

– Booker appeared in his 100th career game and has totalled 1,490 points. Only Walter Davis (2,420), Alvan Adams (1,834) and Armen Gilliam (1,658) had more points as a Sun through their first 100 career games.

– Alan Williams made his first appearance in five games, seeing action (one point, one rebound and four fouls in nine minutes) because Alex Len missed the game, his first of the season, due to a bruised hip.

– Starting small forward T.J. Warren missed his 12th straight game with a minor head injury. He has not played since Nov. 18 at Indiana though he has returned to practice, including scrimmaging on Monday.

– The Suns hosted PHX Night with the first 5,000 fans in attendance receiving an exclusive Suns Poster featuring illustrations of Ring of Honor members Alvan Adams, Connie Hawkins and Dick Van Arsdale.

UP NEXT

The three-game homestand closes with a visit by the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

This is the first of three meetings in the next month in three different locations: Phoenix, San Antonio (Dec. 28) and Mexico City (Jan. 14).

The Spurs swept all four matchups last season, and they currently are on a seven-game winning streak in the series.

Overall, the Spurs have won 37 of the past 51 regular-season contests.

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