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The Suns fought hard but folded in the end. The Suns took a 56-55 lead into the halftime break but couldn't hold on to that lead. It's hard to win when you give up 75 points in the second half. Mike Conley (29 points, 8 assists) had yet another great game against the Suns as did Marc Gasol (28 points, 7 rebounds) and Zach Randolph (23 points, 8 rebounds).
Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 20 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. T.J. Warren added 17 points and 6 rebounds. Devin Booker was held to just 9 points tonight.
First Quarter
The game started out with Devin Booker getting booed during the team introductions. It didn't take long for things to get out of hand when Vince Carter threw a vicious elbow at Devin Booker with 3:54 left in the 1st quarter after the Suns took an 18-9 lead. Carter got ejected and Alex Len got a tech for coming to Booker's defense.
Vince Carter is too old for this millennial bullshit pic.twitter.com/FK9vUD3apP
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) March 1, 2017
The Grizzlies chipped away at that lead until the 1st quarter finally ended with the Suns ahead 27-25.
Second Quarter
In the second quarter the Suns second unit looked bad for a short stretch when Jared Dudley, Tyler Ulis and Derick Jones Jr. all got personal fouls within an 18 second stretch. But they settled down quickly and played back and forth ball with the Griz while holding onto the lead. At 4:31 left to play Jones Jr. made a sweet dunk off a Ulis assist to put the Suns up 48-41.
GET UP, @TheRea1DJones
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 1, 2017
✈️ #AirplaneMode ✈️ pic.twitter.com/AQHF6TI5GH
Memphis quickly put their starting unit back on the court and gradually took a 49-48 lead with 3:04 minute left to play in the half. The Suns responded by putting their first unit back on the court and finished the first half with a 56-55 lead.
Third Quarter
In the third quarter the Suns let their small halftime lead slip away as the Grizzlies started off the quarter hitting 7 of 9 and the Suns fell behind 72-66. The Suns got back to within 79-82 at the 2:49 mark but started to fall apart after that. The Suns let the Grizzlies extend the lead to 93-85 by the end of the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
The Grizzlies just kept adding more points than the Suns could. Final score: 130-112 Memphis.