PHOENIX — Eric Bledsoe scored 23 points and backcourt mate Goran Dragic had 21 as the Phoenix Suns held off the Chicago Bulls 99-93 on Friday night.
Bledsoe’s six-footer high off the glass put the Suns up 97-93. It came after a 7-0 Chicago run that cut the lead to 95-93 on Aaron Brooks’ layup with 31.9 seconds to go.
Markieff Morris had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns. His twin brother, Marcus, also scored 12.
Derrick Rose scored 23, Jimmy Butler, 22, and Brooks, 21, for the Bulls, who were coming off a double-overtime loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles Thursday night and didn’t arrive in Phoenix until 3:30 a.m. on Friday.
The Suns finished 6-2 in a franchise-record eight-game homestand.
Phoenix led nearly the entire game and was up by 16 in the second quarter before a 22-6 run gave the Bulls their only lead since the opening minutes on Kirk Hinrich’s four-footer with 36 seconds left in the third.
Brandan Wright’s layup with 9.3 seconds to go put the Suns up 68-67 entering the fourth.
Dragic’s layup after a slick pass from Markieff Morris gave Phoenix a 95-86 lead with 2:24 to play. Chicago scored the next seven, including a 3-pointer and layup by Brooks, before Bledsoe and the Suns put it away.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Missed their first seven free throws. … Chicago is 1-2 halfway through a six-game road trip. … Jimmy Butler tweaked his knee in the loss to the Lakers but was back in the lineup on Friday.
Suns: Dragic and Bledsoe got his16th 20-point game of the season. … Phoenix is 16-6 since going to the starting lineup of Dragic, Bledsoe, Alex Len, Markieff Morris and P.J. Tucker. Gerald Green did not play by coaches’ decision.
UP NEXT
Bulls: At Houston on Wednesday.
Suns: At Golden State Saturday night.
