Mistakes Cost Suns in Loss to Wizards

95

101

When the Suns got a shot up Friday night, it usually went in.

Shots, however, were in short supply due to turnovers (21) and offensive rebounds (19 for Washington).

The combination was too much to overcome, even with another All-Star performance from Goran Dragic (19 points, 11 assists, four rebounds, two steals). Phoenix lost the final contest of a five-game homestand, 101-95, to the Wizards.

The Suns had vocally expressed hopes of avoiding a letdown after Wednesday's landmark win over Indiana. They followed up on that with a crisp start on offense, scoring 57 first-half points on 58.8 percent shooting.

Extra possessions kept Washington in reach anyway. The Wizards then countered by trapping and double-teaming the Suns big men in mistmatch post-ups.

Phoenix tried to respond by hitting the open man. Thirteen of those passes were picked off by Washington.

"Bad spacing and they were really active on defense," Dragic said after the game. "When we passed the ball into the low post, they came to double-team. We didn't move our guys well. We didn't cut or try to open the passing lanes. That put the big guys in a tough situation, because [they're] almost over there in the corner with two guys on him."

The Suns hope to regroup for Sunday's game at Cleveland, the first of a four-games-in-five-nights road trip.

With 2:43 remaining, Phoenix had just polished off a 12-4 run that saw four different Suns score. The effort, capped off by a Plumlee hook with the shot clock winding down, tied the game at 93-93

Phoenix looked on the verge of taking the lead after forcing a turnover and seeing P.J. Tucker step to the line for two free throws..

He missed them both, and Bradley Beal scored seven of the Wizards' final eight points to put the game away.

"You have a great win the other night, [but] it means one win if you don't back it up." -- Jeff Hornacek

Goran Dragic was superb yet again, pouring in 19 points, 11 assists, four rebounds and two steals.

The Slovenian playmaker has scored in double-figures in all but two games he has played in this season (36 of 38). In the month of January, Dragic is averaging 21.9 points, 6.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from three-point range.

15 - The number of extra shots Washington had compared to Phoenix due to 19 offensive rebounds and 21 Suns turnovers.