Suns 118, Kings 97
PHOENIX -- Guard Brandon Knight atoned for a scoreless first half with 12 of his 17 points in the third quarter as the Phoenix Suns broke open a close game with a 20-7 run to beat the Sacramento Kings 118-97 Wednesday.
Guard Eric Bledsoe led Phoenix with 19 points and center Alex Len added 16 points and eight rebounds. The Suns, who hit 14 of their 23 3-pointers (61 percent), led by as many as 21 points for the third win in their last four games.
Forward Kosta Koufas had 16 points and forward James Anderson and guard Marco Belinelli had 15 each for the Kings, who lost for the second time in as many nights without center DeMarcus Cousins (Achilles tendon injury) and fell to 1-4 on the season.
The Suns scored 32 points in the third quarter to take an 81-69 lead and finished the game with a 17-5 run midway through the fourth, with Len scoring the last seven to make it 105-84 Phoenix with 4:46 left.
The Suns shot 40 percent from the field over their first four games but had a good shooting start. Phoenix made 12 of 22 shots from the field in the first quarter and Bledsoe was very active with 10 points, three assists and three steals.
The Kings missed 13 of 21 shots in the quarter and trailed by as many as 12, with guard Rajon Rondo's jumper pulling them within 28-18 at the quarter.
Phoenix cooled off in the second quarter and the Kings capitalized. Koufus had six points and four rebounds and cut the Phoenix lead to 39-35 on a finger-roll layup with 3:23 left in the half. But the Suns finished the half on a 7-2 run, with forward P.J. Tucker's 3-pointer from the deep corner just before the buzzer giving the Suns a 49-40 lead at the half.
The Kings completed the comeback with a 15-6 run to open the third quarter with guard Darren Collison following an Anderson 3-pointer with a fastbreak finish to tie the game at 55 with 7:42 left.
The Suns answered with a 9-2 run featuring two 3-pointers by guard Ronnie Price and a T.J. Warren fastbreak layup and jumper from Len to push their lead to 100-82 with six minutes left.
The Kings crawled back with 88-79 on a Belinelli 3-pointer before Len and the Suns pulled away for good.
NOTES: The Suns didn't mind seeing Kings C DeMarcus Cousins out of the lineup. Cousins averaged 25.7 points and 13.6 rebounds in four games against Phoenix last year, with Sacramento winning three times. "He causes all kinds of trouble inside," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. ... How much has the addition of C Tyson Chandler helped the Suns? In the first four games of the season, Phoenix collected 211 rebounds (52.8 per game), which ranked third in the league. It was the first time in franchise history the Suns grabbed at least 48 rebound in each of the first four games. ... Last year, the Kings were 6-17 in the 23 games Cousins missed. ...Sacramento coach George Karl on Suns G Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, who entered the night averaging 18 points and five assists a game: "I love their point guards. I like playing two point guards. It's a nice young team."