Suns pull away in 2nd half to down Raptors
DeRozan, Lowry's combined 48 points not enough
The young Phoenix Suns might be pushovers to some in the NBA. On Thursday night, they sought to be the aggressors.
It worked in the second half, as the Suns showed grit on both offence and defence in beating the Toronto Raptors 99-91.
Eric Bledsoe scored 22 points, Devin Booker had nine of his 19 in the fourth quarter, and the Suns held the Raptors to 40 percent shooting.
The Raptors, in second place in the Eastern Conference, lost consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 20 and 21. Both teams played the second of back-to-back games.
"A lot of teams or coaches say, 'If they hit us, we have to sustain that hit and come back.' Our thing is, let's be the first one to hit," Suns coach Earl Watson said. "We came out in the third quarter and did a great job."
The Raptors trailed for most of the second half and cut a 14-point deficit to 90-85 on a layup by DeMar DeRozan with 3:25 to play in the fourth quarter. But the Suns hung on, winning for just the second time in eight games. They have won back-to-back home games for the second time this season.
DeRozan and Kyle Lowry scored 24 points apiece for the Raptors.
Booker made a layup and a free throw, then a 3-pointer on the next possession to give the Suns a 96-85 lead with 1:51 to play. The Raptors were too far behind to catch up.
"I'm not shooting the best," said Booker, who went 6 for 19, "but I just stick with it. My coach still trusts me, my team still trusts me."
With the Raptors struggling at both ends, Phoenix went up 72-58 on Booker's layup with 46 seconds left in the third quarter. T.J. Warren's 10-foot floater at the buzzer had the Suns in front 76-62.
"A lot of it is mental. We catch ourselves standing, we catch ourselves playing in mud," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Playing in mud for three quarters."
Phoenix led by as many as five in the second quarter but only 42-40 at halftime.
Patterson forced out by injury
Toronto forward Patrick Patterson left in the first half with a strained left knee and did not return.
Patterson played just over eight minutes and missed all three shots he attempted. He appeared to get hurt near the end of the first quarter when he was slow to get back to the foul line for free throws at the other end of the court, walking gingerly.
The 6-foot-9 forward played 33 minutes Wednesday night at Golden State. He's averaging 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds.