Suns 107, Magic 104
PHOENIX -- Phoenix center Alex Len scored a career-high 20 points and tied a career best with 14 rebounds as the Suns held off the Orlando Magic 107-104 on Wednesday night.
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.
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.
With Orlando 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.
Magic guard Victor Oladipo and Fournier each had a chance to tie the score with 3-pointers in the final seconds, but both missed to allow the Suns to escape.
Orlando was down 84-73 after three quarters but wiped out the lead quickly to open the fourth quarter. 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.
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, playing without center Tyson Chandler (hamstring) and forward Markieff Morris (sinus infection), cut the lead to 24-21 at the end of the quarter. But Orlando opened the second quarter with another 10-2 run, with a 3-pointer by guard Shabazz Napier pushing the Magic lead to 34-25 with nine minutes left.
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 putback 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.