Phoenix, AZ – The Milwaukee Bucks accomplished something on Thursday they hadn't since Ronald Reagan was in the Oval Office.
Monta Ellis scored a game-high 24 points and the Bucks used a late run in the fourth quarter to beat the Suns in Phoenix, 98-94, for the first time since Feb. 21, 1987.
Larry Sanders had a career-high 19 points with 15 rebounds and recorded two big blocks during the Bucks' game-sealing 10-0 run. Brandon Jennings and Mike Dunleavy each netted 16 points in Milwaukee's fourth win in six games.
The Suns had won 24 straight as the hosts in this series, including all 19 contests at US Airways Center, which opened in 1992.
"I don't like to bring up the past, it's too much pressure, but I was happy we came out and broke that streak," Sanders said.
Shannon Brown paced Phoenix, which has dropped four straight at home for the first time since March 2004, with 20 points, while Luis Scola added 16 points and eight boards in defeat.
"You have to be able to make plays down the stretch to win games, especially close games. They made them, and we did not," Suns head coach Alvin Gentry said.
A back-and-forth contest was determined in the final 3 1/2 minutes. At that point, Ellis hit a jumper to tie things, 86-86, starting a string of 10 straight Bucks points.
Sanders threw down a go-ahead dunk on the next Milwaukee possession, and after Jennings went 1-for-2 at the foul line, a Sanders block led to Jennings scooping in two more for a 91-86 lead.
Sanders blocked Scola at the other end, and the Suns turned the ball over on a shot clock violation. Dunleavy's 3-pointer with under a minute left made it an eight-point game, and the visitors held on from there.
Jennings scored 10 points in the first quarter and the Bucks as a whole bullied their way to 20 points in the paint while taking a 32-22 lead into the second.
Phoenix rallied with its own style of physical play by getting to the foul line 15 times and making 12 in the second stanza. The Suns ended the half on a 15-5 run to take a 56-53 advantage.
Milwaukee trailed 63-53 early in the third quarter, but pulled within 75-70 by the end of the frame and reeled off eight straight points to even things, 80-80, on a Dunleavy 3-pointer with 8:25 to play.
Game Notes
Phoenix had swept the season series against Milwaukee in five of the last six seasons ... The Suns shot 38 percent from the field, thanks in part to 11 blocks by the Bucks ... Milwaukee ends a four-game road trip in Portland on Saturday ... Phoenix is off until playing in Sacramento next Wednesday.
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