Mavs Lose To Suns

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PHOENIX — It took longer than he wanted for Eric Bledsoe to get the elusive rebound needed for a triple-double. And it took longer than the Phoenix Suns wanted to finally close out the mistake-prone Dallas Mavericks.

But in the end, both missions were accomplished.

Guard Goran Dragic had 12 of his 25 points in the second quarter and Bledsoe recorded his second career triple-double — and second in 15 days — with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists as the Suns won their fourth straight game, 124-115 over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday.

Bledsoe was in search of his 10th rebound for the final four minutes of the game, and had to wrestle it away from Dragic — who didn’t know its significance — with 30 seconds left as the rest of the Phoenix players and bench enjoyed a good laugh.

“He didn’t realize that I needed one more. I told him I appreciated it,” said Bledsoe, who had 27 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds in a losing effort against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 8. “I was exhausted. I’d been running around the basketball court like a chicken trying to find that last one. Everyone said they were afraid I was going to hurt him, and he was going to be out for two weeks.”

Bledsoe joins Dallas newcomer Rajon Rondo (three) and Philadelphia’s Michael Carter-Williams (two) as those with multiple triple-doubles in the NBA this season. Rondo had 13 points, six rebounds and

eight assists in his third game as a Maverick before fouling out.

Dragic said he was unaware of Bledsoe’s plight. “If I would have known, I just would have let it go and let him take it. I was teasing him (saying) ‘You were bullying me on that play. But it’s great that he actually got it.”

Guard Gerald Green added 22 points, 18 of them coming on six 3-pointers for Phoenix, who had lost three straight and four of five at US Airways Center — all of them to Eastern Conference opponents. 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. But coach Jeff Hornacek wasn’t happy with the 41 fourth-quarter points his team allowed, to turn a potential blow-out into a nail-biter.

“When we got up by (19) points late in the third quarter, we let them back in the game by jacking around so that’s the part I’m upset about,” he said. “If they want to be a top team, top teams don’t do that. They put the nail down and build it up to 25.”

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.

“A lot of it had to do with turnovers and mistakes,” Chandler said. “They got 28 points off turnovers and that’s way too many to a team that’s as good as that one is on the fast break. You can’t give up 124 points.”

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. Dallas is now 1-2 since the Rondo trade.

“We’re three games into this, three games in four days,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “When you have a couple of nights like the last two, it feels like you’re light years away. But we’re a lot closer than it feels; we just have to stick with it.”

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.

“Every time we made a little run, they would hit a 3,” Nowitzki said. “Green got hot, Dragic made some big shots. We just couldn’t get over the hump to make it a game.”

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