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Suns 124, Mavericks 115

Alan Draper profile picture
Sports Editor
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PHOENIX — Guard Goran Dragic had 12 of his 25 points in the second quarter and the Phoenix Suns pulled away in the second half to win their fourth straight game, 124-115 over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday.

Guard Eric Bledsoe added his second career triple-double — and second this month — with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Suns, who had lost three straight and four of five at US Airways Center — all of them to Eastern Conference opponents.

Guard Gerald Green added 22 points, 18 of them coming on six 3-pointers, for Phoenix. Center Alex Len had 17 points and forward P.J. Tucker added 15 for the Suns (16-14), who have backed up a season-high six-game losing streak by tying a season high with four consecutive wins. They have won both meetings against Dallas this season after losing 14 of the previous 16 matchups.

The Suns scored 32 of their season-high 124 points on the fast break, dishing out 30 assists.

Center Tyson Chandler had a season-high 22 points and 13 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki matched him with 22 points for Dallas (20-10), who committed 20 turnovers leading to 28 Phoenix points and lost back-to-back games for only the second time this season.

Charlie Villanueva scored a season-high 18 points and Monte Ellis added 15 for Dallas. Ellis missed 12 of his 17 shots from the field. Guard Rajon Rondo added 13 points before fouling out.

Dallas controlled the play early and jumped out to a 10-point lead on five straight points off the bench from Villanueva. His 3-pointer with 4:20 left made it 22-12 Mavericks. But the Suns closed the quarter on a 13-4 run, including two 3-pointers by Green. Two Isaiah Thomas free throws with 1:13 left pulled the Suns to 26-25 at the quarter.

Phoenix missed its first 11 shots of the second period, but Dallas had three of the 10 second-period turnovers in that span to keep the Suns in the game. Dallas stretched its lead to 39-30 when Rondo followed a 3-pointer with a reverse layup off a Chandler feed with 6:05 left the half.

It was all Suns the rest of the way. And a lot of Dragic.

With all three point guards on the floor, Dragic had 12 points in the final 5:51 of the period and capped a 20-4 Phoenix surge with a 3-pointer, two free throws and a feed to Len for a dunk to make it 50-43 Suns with 50.9 seconds left. Dallas had 13 turnovers in the half and trailed 53-45 at the break. Rondo had nine points but five turnovers.

The Suns had their best shooting quarter in the third, making 12 of 21 shots, including 5 of 7 3-pointers. Tucker had one during his nine-point quarter and two Miles Plumlee free throws extended the Suns lead to 19 at 87-68 with 1:31 left. Dallas never got within 10 points until the final two minutes and the Suns held them off the rest of the way.

NOTES: The Suns (7-1) and Mavericks (8-0) are a combined 15-1 on the road against Eastern Conference this season. The Suns just came off a three-game sweep of Charlotte, New York and Washington. … Phoenix C Alex Len averaged 7.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.75 blocks in his first four games as a starter. Coach Jeff Hornacek likes what he’s seen of both Len and backup Miles Plumlee in their new roles. “Alex has played well and Miles has done a great job coming off the bench and giving that group some life.” … Dallas had 22 steals in the past two games (10 against San Antonio on Dec. 20 and 12 against Atlanta on Dec. 22). … Dallas came into the game leading the NBA with an offensive rating of 112.9 points per 100 possessions. The last NBA to average more than 112 points for an entire season was the 2009-10 Suns (112.7). … The Suns lead the league averaging 17.5 fast break points per game, while the Mavericks allow the most at 15.8 points. … The Suns shot 51.4 percent from the field in the 104-92 win at Washington on Sunday and have now won 28 straight games when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.

Alan is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief editors for Basketball Insiders. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 8 years, having written for the likes of Sportlens, Compare.bet, The Sports Daily, 90min, and TopRatedCasinos.co.uk. His particular specialisms include US online casinos and gambling regulations, and soccer and basketball betting. Based in London, Alan holds an MA in English Literature and is a passionate supporter of Chelsea FC.

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