Bulls at Suns
The Phoenix Suns are finishing an otherwise difficult season with some much-improved play of late and have a heavy dose of home games to finish it out, beginning with Monday's matchup against the Chicago Bulls. Winners of six of their last 10 contests, the Suns play seven of their next nine at home - including five versus sub-.500 teams.
A team so often on the wrong end of things, Phoenix got a series of big breaks in a wild finish at New Orleans on Saturday, escaping with a 138-136 overtime victory. "We're going back to Phoenix happy. We're going to build off this," Suns forward Kelly Oubre Jr. told reporters after scoring a career-high 32 points in the win. The Bulls have lost five straight, including the first two of their three-game road trip. They allowed 73 second-half points and had just two starters hit double figures in Sunday's 129-102 loss at Sacramento, which dropped them to 2-12 on the road against Western Conference opponents.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, FS Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE BULLS (19-52): Chicago's starting five combined to go 20-for-52 from the floor while totaling 11 assists and 10 turnovers in Sunday's loss. "Our starters need to play better, they know it," coach Jim Boylen told reporters. "They are disappointed. We've got another one tomorrow, we've got to pull up our boot straps and get ready to play." Zach LaVine led the way with 18 points after averaging 30.3 over his previous four contests.
ABOUT THE SUNS (17-54): Oubre was upstaged at New Orleans by Devin Booker, who recorded 40 points and 13 assists while making the go-ahead free throw with 1.1 seconds left after the Pelicans were whistled for an ill-timed technical foul. "We came in the locker room and we're looking around like, we still don't know what happened," Booker told reporters. "We'll take the win, for sure." Josh Jackson buried a key 3-pointer moments before the technical and is 9-for-14 from 3-point range over his last five games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. LaVine scored 29 points to lead the Bulls to a 124-116 home win in the first meeting with Phoenix this season.
2. Bulls PF Lauri Markkanen has scored in double figures in 29 straight games, tying the longest streak for a Chicago player in eight years.
3. Oubre is averaging 20.2 points and 2.1 steals since the All-Star break.