Morris paces Suns over Raptors
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Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Markieff Morris hit his first 11 shot attempts and finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns beat the Toronto Raptors 106-97 on Friday night.
Eric Bledsoe scored 19 points with six assists, while P.J. Tucker had 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for Phoenix, which snapped a three-game losing streak against Toronto.
Amir Johnson paced Toronto with a season-high 22 points and Kyle Lowry finished with 21 points and seven assists.
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Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan scored 17 and 13, respectively, on a combined 11- of-30 shooting.
Phoenix doubled up the Raptors 14-7 over the first 6:39 of the third to take a 66-57 lead after a Bledsoe layup.
The lead swelled to as many as 13 after a technical free throw from Bledsoe. Toronto outscored the Suns, however, 11-5 in the final 1:51 of the quarter to pull within seven, 81-74, heading to the fourth.
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The Suns opened the final frame on an 8-2 run to increase the lead to 89-77 with 9:25 left.
Marcus Morris hit a triple from the corner midway through the quarter to give the Suns a 94-79 advantage.
Toronto's last ditch effort came via a 12-3 run that pulled the visitors within six, 97-91, following a Johnson layup at 2:42.
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Bledsoe countered with the dagger almost a minute later with a 3-pointer from the wing and Tucker made two at the line to extend the lead 102-91 with over a minute to play.
Marcus Morris hit a three to begin the second, but Toronto used a 16-6 run to take a 43-36 lead. Gay, who had nine points during the burst, started the run with a driving layup and capped it with a jumper midway through the stanza.
Phoenix took the lead back with just over two minutes left following a Dragic three and the Suns brought a slim 52-50 lead into the break.
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Phoenix jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the opening 3:06 after a pair of free throws from Bledsoe.
Toronto answered with a 20-9 run after a DeRozan alley-oop slam from Lowry to give the Raptors a 22-19 lead with 4:07 left.
The two teams were tied 27 all after one.
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Game Notes
Toronto was looking to win four straight games over the Suns for the first time in franchise history ... Toronto has lost five-straight overall ... Phoenix outrebounded Toronto 53-36 ... Toronto continues its road trip with a meeting against Kobe and the Lakers on Sunday ... Phoenix with travel to play the Lakers on Tuesday.