National Basketball Association
Phoenix 107, Orlando 104
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #40 Leon Wood, #59 Gary Zielinski
Attendance: 17637

PHOENIX -- With starting center Tyson Chandler and power forward Markieff Morris out of the lineup, the Phoenix Suns are asking 7-foot-1 Alex Len to play more -- and do more inside.

Len gave the Suns all they needed Wednesday, and the guard tandem of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight did the rest.

Len scored a career-high 20 points and tied a career best with 14 rebounds and the Suns needed all of them to hold off the Orlando Magic 107-104 on Wednesday night.

"We have to rebound the ball. That's what big guys do. That's my job," said Len, who played 36 minutes. "I have to give credit to my teammates (for the big scoring night); they were looking for me the whole night. I was setting screens to get them open, and they were finding me on the pick and rolls."

Guards Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe added 21 points each for the Suns, who won back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 14-16. Phoenix is now 7-0 against teams playing the second of back-to-back games. The Magic beat the Nuggets in Denver on Tuesday.

Len's effort was a key for a Suns team still feeling the effects of a long five-game road trip.

"We were dead tired but Alex had the energy. He's one of the young guys," Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said. "He's playing with confidence and he's probably the player of the game.

Center Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who had won six of the past seven games and rallied several times late before falling. Guard Tobias Harris had 16 points and forward Evan Fournier 14 for the Magic.

Orlando coach Scott Skiles credited Bledsoe and Knight, who combined for 14 assists with doing in the Magic.

"Their guards destroyed us," he said. "They just penetrated and went wherever they wanted to go. We tried to switch coverage and mix it up but we just couldn't handle them."

The Magic had its chances. Down 106-104 with 27.8 seconds left, Magic guard Elfrid Payton mishandled the inbounds pass and committed a backcourt violation to give the Suns possession. Payton finished with 12 points and 10 assists.

After Bledsoe made one of two free throws with 17.4 seconds left, Orlando had two chances to send the game to overtime but guard Victor Oladipo and Fournier missed 3-pointers to allow the Suns to escape.

"It's disappointing because we know we could have won this game," Payton said. "They got to the paint and their big guys did a good job of rolling and cleaning up on the glass."

Orlando was down 84-73 to begin a see-saw fourth quarter but wiped out the deficit quickly. Forward Aaron Gordon, guard Mario Hezonja and Fournier all had 3-pointers during a 57-second span to cut the Phoenix lead to two points and Vucevic tied the score at 86 on a 19-footer with 9:58 left.

The Suns answered the run with one of their own. Forward Jon Leuer had six points wrapped around a 3-pointer from forward P.J. Tucker, and two free throws from Len pushed the lead back to 102-92 with 4:31 to go.

Leuer finished with 15 points in 27 minutes.

Orlando came right back with 10 straight points, with Harris following a Fournier 3-pointer with two free throws to tie the score at 102 with 2:15 left. But that was the last time they were even.

"In the last two minutes, the offensive end is where we really didn't execute as we should have," Vucevic said. "If we get a few more buckets, maybe the game goes a different way."

The trio of Fournier, Harris and Payton combined for 21 of the Magic's 24 points in the first quarter -- 10 of them during a 12-1 run that turned a 12-7 deficit into a 19-13 Orlando lead.

The Suns rallied behind guard Mirza Teletovic, who had 11 of his 15 first-half points in the second quarter. He made three of his four 3-pointers in the final 6:47, including a bank shot from 26 feet with 1:57 left to start a 10-2 Phoenix run to end the half.

Phoenix forward P.J. Tucker capped the run with a tip-in just before the buzzer to give Phoenix a 49-47 lead.

Knight had 16 points and Len added 11 during a 35-point Phoenix third quarter. Len scored seven straight points midway through the quarter and his 6-foot hook shot gave the Suns their biggest lead at 73-63.

Len ended the quarter with a put back dunk just before the buzzer and Phoenix took an 84-73 lead to the fourth quarter.

NOTES: Orlando coach Scott Skiles on former Suns F Channing Frye: "He's played good defense for us, and even when he doesn't take a shot, he provides spacing because people trend to stay tight to him." ... Suns G Devin Booker hit 17 of his first 21 3-point shots in the NBA (71.4 percent), the best rate since the 1985-86 season for a player who has averaged at least one attempt through 18 games. The previous high was 57.1 percent (12-for-21) by Tony Delk of the Charlotte Hornets in 1996-97. ... In a Monday win against the Chicago Bulls, Phoenix G Brandon Knight scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, his third 17-point quarter of the season. He joined Golden State Warriors G Stephen Curry (eight), Cleveland Cavaliers F LeBron James (three) and Houston Rockets G James Harden (three) in that category.
Top Game Performances
 
Orlando   Phoenix
Nikola Vucevic 21 Scoring Eric Bledsoe 21
Elfrid Payton 10 Assists Eric Bledsoe 9
Nikola Vucevic 11 Rebounds Alex Len 14
Nikola Vucevic 5 Free Throws Made Alex Len 6
Elfrid Payton 5 Steals Brandon Knight 6
Jason Smith 1 Blocks Alex Len 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Orlando 104 47.1 12-25 12-16 28 32 1 11 16
Phoenix 107 51.2 6-24 19-27 23 44 6 9 18
Upcoming Games
  • Phoenix will play their next game at home against Portland. The Suns have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .462 after a loss.
  • Orlando will play their next game at home against Cleveland. The Magic have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .667 after a loss.