|
 Forward Trevor Ariza scored 23 points and guard Bradley Beal had
nine points in the fourth quarter, including two late baskets, as
the Wizards held Phoenix to 38 points in the second half and won
101-95 on Friday night.
Guard John Wall had 18 points and 12 assists and forward Nene added
18 points as the Wizards forced 21 turnovers — seven in the third
quarter — and pulled out a game that featured 19 lead changes with
neither team ahead by more than eight points.
The Wizards forced the Suns, who averaged an NBA-low 11 turnovers
per game in January, to 21 and turned them into 24 points on the
other end.
Washington also grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and had a 20-14 edge
in fast-break points against Phoenix, which led the NBA in that
category.
The Suns, who led 57-51 at the half, have lost 12 of the 15 games in
which they failed to reach 100 points.
"When we press up defensively and get stops, it ignites our offense
and it gets me going," Ariza said. "Beal came off the bench cold and
made big shots that definitely helped us."
The Wizards reached .500 or the fifth time this season. They will
try to get above it for the first time since they were 2-1 against
the Jazz on Saturday in Utah. Washington has won eight of its last
10 road games.
The Suns rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter
to tie the score at 93 on a hook shot by center Miles Plumlee with
2:43 left. Forward P.J. Tucker missed two free throws that would
have put Phoenix up with 2:17 left and Beal nailed a 3-pointer off a
Wall feed with 2:03 to go to put the Wizards ahead for good.
"Big-time player," Wall said of Beal. "It's great when you get going
and different guys can make baskets down the stretch. We played a
two-man game and ran Beal and Nene off screens. Beal made a 3 and a
big pull-up for us."
The Suns got back to 97-95 on a Plumlee dunk with 41.9 seconds left,
but Beal answered with a 15-foot pull-up jumper with 26.9 seconds
left and finished the game with a driving dunk with 8.9 seconds
left.
[to top of second column] |
"It was a bunch of things. We didn't play well at all," Suns
coach Jeff Hornacek said. "It's probably been six or seven games
since we had a big turnover night like that, and then they get
19 offensive rebounds and all that stuff adds up. It was a tough
night."
Suns guard Goran Dragic had 19 points and 11 assists and forward
Channing Frye added 16 points — 12 in the first half of the
first quarter.
The Suns hit 11 of 16 3-pointers on Wednesday night against the
Pacers — their best shooting percentage night behind the arc in
more than five years. But the Suns missed 15 of 22 3-pointers
against the Wizards and 11 of 12 in the second half.
"I feel bad because we let this game get away," Dragic said. "We
had a lot of turnovers that they scored off of, and it was
always a fast break. It was a tight game at the end and when
Tuck missed two free throws and they came back with that
3-pointer, we didn't come back."
NOTES: The Suns made 11 of 16 3-pointers in their 124-100 win
over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. Their 68.8 shooting
percentage behind the arc was the best in a game since Phoenix
went 15 of 21 (71.4 percent) in a win over Seattle in 2008. ...
Wizards C Marcin Gortat averaged 13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and
1.5 blocks in 189 games during his three seasons with the Suns.
His 54.5 shooting percentage from the field was fifth in team
history for players who were in at least 150 games. ... The
Wizards evened the 116-game series at 58-58. ... The up-tempo
Suns came in averaging 11.5 turnovers in 11 January games, the
best in the NBA. They are forcing 16.0 turnovers during that
span and averaging 19.3 points off the turnovers. ... The
Wizards came in 7-2 in their last nine road games. Suns coach
Jeff Hornacek on the Wizards: "They'll go to their fourth or
fifth option, which comes late in the shot clock. That when we
can't relax, we have to play all 24 seconds of defense."
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