Big Second Half Pushes Suns Past Magic

109

93

The Suns needed another win, especially after a disheartening loss at Brooklyn. It stood to reason someone needed to provide a lift.

Against the Magic, everyone did.

Twelve Phoenix players scored and only Goran Dragic played more than 25 minutes as the Suns routed the Magic 109-93 on Wednesday night.

Dragic led the team with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, but eight other players scored at least seven, including four off the bench.

Orlando hung around for nearly three quarters before the Suns ripped off a 23-3 run. Gerald Green sank a trio of three-pointers in the first 3:35 of the final period, accounting for nine of his 14 points.

"We got everybody minutes. Again, guys are a little tired and banged up," said Suns Head Coach Jeff Hornacek. "Games like this can really help us in terms of being really rested going forward."

Phoenix had few issues on the offensive end, but it wasn't until their defense kicked in toward the end of the third quarter that they started pulling away.

The Suns forced four turnovers and forced nine misses on 10 shots during the 23-3 spurt, turning a 75-74 deficit into a 97-78 advantage.

The amount of time Phoenix needed for that push: 5:46.

"It was time." -- Jeff Hornacek on his decision to post the conference/playoff standings in the locker room for the first time this season.

Eric Bledsoe didn't have his shot going, but he did nearly everything else, including getting his teammates involved early and often. The fourth-year guard finished with a stat-stuffing seven points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in just 24 minutes of playing time.

41: the number of second-half points yielded to Orlando, courtesy of the 34.3 percent to which the Suns limited the Magic