Suns hand Heat 6th straight loss
PHOENIX -- Devin Booker scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half and the Phoenix Suns handed the shorthanded Miami Heat their sixth straight loss with a 99-90 win on Tuesday.
Marquese Chriss had a career-high 18 points and Eric Bledsoe added 16 points for the Suns (11-25), who had lost 12 straight overall and eight straight at home to the Heat. The win was their first against Miami since Nov. 3, 2009.
Tyson Chandler had five points and 20 rebounds, passing Horace Grant for 44th place on the all-time NBA list with 9,456 for Phoenix. The Suns have eight of their 11 wins (8-4) against the Eastern Conference, while going 3-21 against the West.
The Suns have won three straight at Talking Stick Resort Arena for the first time in more than a year (Nov. 12-16, 2015).
Goran Dragic had 22 of his 24 points in the first half for the Heat (10-26), who dressed the league minimum of eight players thanks to an assortment of maladies ranging from injuries to food poisoning to a migraine headache.
Willie Reed set new career highs with 22 points and 18 rebounds for the Heat, who matched their longest losing streak of the year.
Despite their depleted ranks, the Heat took a quick 8-2 lead and led by as many as nine in the first quarter. Dragic had 12 straight Miami points and followed a 3-pointer with a driving reverse layup to give the Heat a 24-15 lead.
The Suns scored the final eight points of the quarter to pull within 29-28 behind 10 points off the bench from Leandro Barbosa. They pushed the run to 12-0 on a P.J. Tucker basket to give Phoenix a 32-29 lead. But Dragic, who was 9-for-13 from the field in the first half, had five straight during a 13-5 Miami run and his reverse layup gave Miami a 42-37 lead.
But Dragic and Rodney McGruder both picked up their third fouls and the Heat missed 13 straight shots while the Suns regained the edge. Bledsoe and Booker had seven points each and Bledsoe's two free throws with 4.2 second left gave Phoenix a 56-52 edge at the break.
Booker had 10 points during a 27-14 Suns third quarter, where Phoenix stretched their lead to 19 points. The Heat got back to 85-76 with a 10-2 run in the fourth, but a Booker hit back-to-back 3-pointers to end the rally.
NOTES: The Heat dressed only eight players at Phoenix. In addition to four players who have been out long term (Chris Bosh, Josh McRoberts, Hassan Whiteside and Justice Winslow), G Dion Waiters sat out with a pectineus tear and Miami's bench took two more unexpected hits when F James Johnson sat out with food poisoning and PG Tyler Johnson was sidelined with a migraine headache. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said Waiters had a good workout Tuesday and is close to returning. ... Phoenix went without Brandon Knight, who sprained his right wrist early in the 109-98 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Monday. ... The Suns came into the game ranked second in the NBA (to Golden State) with 18.6 fast-break points per game and second in points off turnovers (to Toronto) with 18.9 points. ... Suns C Tyson Chandler entered the game tied with Zach Randolph for fourth place among active players with 9,436 career rebounds. He needed eight rebounds to pass Horace Grant (9,443) for 44th place on the all-time rebounding list. ... The Suns have the longest winning streak in the Phoenix-Miami series, prevailing in the first 16 meetings with the Heat after they entered the league in 1988-89.