After defeating the Timberwolves on Saturday due in large part to their bench production, the Suns second unit stepped up again as the team faced off against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night.
The Suns were down by as many as 12 points midway through the third quarter, but after coming back from down 15 a few nights earlier, it was no shock to see the team’s resilience. Thanks to an Alex Len dunk and a Dragan Bender three-pointer, the Suns pulled to within single-digits entering the fourth.
The newest Sun Isaiah Canaan worked his magic early in the fourth as he scored nine of the Suns first 11 points, including a three-pointer to tie the game at 79-79.
Len followed this up with two free-throws to give the Suns the lead. The big man wasn’t done just yet. With a little over two minutes remaining, Len slammed home a posterizing dunk over two Mavericks to give the Suns a five-point lead.
Alex Len Posterizes Two Mavs with Clutch Dunk
Len finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds off the bench for his second straight double-double and team-leading sixth of the season.
Canaan topped off his own performance as he drove to the basket and flipped it up and in with a minute remaining. In just his second game as a Sun, the point guard finished with 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals off the bench.
Troy Daniels came in with the second unit and did what he does best knocking down three three-pointers and scoring 12 points. Although his biggest moment came on the defensive end. With 11 seconds left, the Mavericks inbounded the ball down by three. Devin Harris drove to the rim, but Daniels maintained his defensive position and forced the missed shot.
TJ Warren would rebound the miss and head to the free throw line to close out the game. The Suns defeated the Mavericks 97-91 after surrendering only 16 points in the fourth quarter.
During their two-game win streak, the Suns bench unit is averaging 62 points per game while shooting 56.2 percent from the field, 55.9 percent from three and 95.8 percent from the free throw line. They are also averaging 27 rebounds and 13.5 assists.
The Suns hope to keep their momentum moving forward as the team travels to Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Wednesday. Catch the action on Fox Sports Arizona.