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Suns 129, Hawks 120
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
PHOENIX — The Atlanta Hawks didn’t do much to slow the Phoenix Suns’ usual racehorse pace Sunday night.
The result was an offensive explosion for the Suns, who gradually ran away en route to a 129-120 win.
The Suns led 79-65 at halftime after putting up an NBA season-high point total before the break. The arena record for the first half is 81. Phoenix reached 100 points in the closing seconds of the third quarter, when forward Marcus Morris nailed a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 102-95 lead.
The 129 points were a season high for the Suns.
Phoenix (35-24) tied the Dallas Mavericks (36-25) for the final playoff position in the Western Conference. Both teams are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies (33-25).
Guard Gerald Green led the Suns with 33 points, hitting five of eight 3-point attempts.
Phoenix point guard Goran Dragic, coming off a career-high 40-point explosion against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, settled for 19 points and eight assists.
Suns forward Markieff Morris, a candidate for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, had 21 points and eight rebounds. He scored in double figures for the 21st time in the past 22 games.
The Hawks (26-32) lost for the 11th time in 12 games.
Guard Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 29 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Forward Mike Scott added 20 points.
Hawks guard Kyle Korver scored 18 thanks to 6-for-7 shooting on 3-pointers. Korver extended his NBA record for hitting at least one 3-pointer in a game to 127 games.
Green shot 8-for-10 in the first half, including 5-for-6 on 3-pointers, for 23 points. Teague had 17 first-half points.
The Hawks battled gamely, drawing within 95-94 late in the third quarter.
The Suns didn’t put the game away until the final four minutes. Dragic scored on a whirling drive, and moments later, he hit one of two foul shots. When forward P.J. Tucker nailed a 20-footer from the right corner, the Suns had a 121-108 lead.
The Suns are 42-16 all time at home vs. the Hawks.
NOTES: Suns PG Eric Bledsoe could return “in the next week or two,” now that he has started 5-on-5 practices and is improving his conditioning, coach Jeff Hornacek said. Because of arthroscopic knee surgery, the star guard hasn’t played since Jan. 2. …The Hawks continue to miss several injured players, notably F/C Al Horford (18.6 points per game) and F Paul Millsap (17.6), their two leading scorers. Backup C Pero Antic, who has been out, now is available to play. …The Suns have signed Shavlik Randolph, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound veteran who previously played in 111 NBA games. Though he is listed as a forward, Randolph may seen more time backing up C Miles Plumlee. “He knows how to play the game — he has a knack for rebounding,” Hornacek said. … To make way for Randolph, the Suns waived C Slava Kravtsov, who played in 20 games, averaging 1.0 points and 0.9 rebounds in 3.0 minutes.
