Eric Bledsoe took over when it mattered.
Eric Bledsoe spent the offseason hardening his mentality of keeping his cool in late game situations, it paid off last night against the Dallas Mavericks on the road last night.
Bledsoe finished with 26 points, 11 in the fourth quarter, with 7 straight points in the last two minutes to break a late game tie with Dallas Mavericks(11-25).The win last night was the first consecutive wins of the season for the struggling Phoenix Suns(12-25).
“I have to show up in crunch time no matter how bad the game is going for me,” said Bledsoe, who scored nine of Phoenix’s last 11 points and had a game-high seven assists. “The last couple of minutes is my time.”
Shooting guard Devin Booker scored 22 going a perfect 3 for 3 from the 3-point line and backup point guard Brandon Knight coming back from missing the previous game with a sprained wrist added 17 points off the bench.Tyson Chandler grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds against his former team but was held to only 3 points.
Dallas veteran point guard Deron Williams led the Mavericks with 20 points, Harrison Barnes had 19 but Dallas was outrebounded 53-31.
“Not good,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “And that’s a big factor obviously in the game and the outcome. You shoot better but lose by seven. That’s one of the reasons.”
Dallas Center Andrew Bogut went scoreless and had no rebounds after committing 5 fouls following a day after suggesting in a radio interview that his days in Dallas might be short. He didn’t talk to reporters after the game.He was acquired in an offseason trade with Golden State to make room for Kevin Durant‘s signing with the team, and so far hasn’t gelled well with the Mavs, coming off the bench because starting with future Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki has been a front court disaster.
He could be on the trade block with Dallas likely looking towards the future with Dirk’s potential retirement looming over the team.
The Phoenix Suns will host Cleveland Sunday before consecutive games in Mexico City against Dallas and San Antonio.
Dallas will host Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
