Bledsoe helps Suns beat Celtics
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - Eric Bledsoe's third and final swipe was his biggest.
Bledsoe's steal and go-ahead layup with 29.5 seconds remaining lifted the Phoenix Suns to a 118-114 win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night.
"He gets big steals at the end of games," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said of Bledsoe.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Boston had possession after Goran Dragic's layup at the other end tied the game at 114-114, but Avery Bradley's cross-court pass was intercepted by Bledsoe and his easy bucket put the Suns in front.
Jeff Green's right wing 3-pointer rattled in and out and Alex Len nailed a pair of foul shots to put the Suns up by four with 19.8 ticks left.
Rajon Rondo was fouled on a triple, but missed all three foul shots to seal the outcome.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rondo finished 2-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Markieff Morris posted 30 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, Goran Dragic tallied 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Alex Len netted 19 points off the bench for the Suns, who dropped the opener of a six-game road trip to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
Bledsoe supplied 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the triumph.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Green provided 28 points, while Rajon Rondo nearly recorded a triple double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Boston, which has dropped six of its last eight games.
"We're 2-4 in those games. All things being even, you hope to win them," Boston coach Brad Stevens said of his team in tight games.
Earlier, Gerald Green slammed home Isaiah Thomas' alley-oop pass to cap a 15-3 Suns run for a 29-16 lead with 4:34 to go in the first, but Boston responded with a 15-2 surge to tie the game.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Phoenix led 33-31 after a quarter of play and carried a 60-54 edge heading into the break.
The Suns were up by as many as 14 in the third, but Jared Sullinger concluded a 9-2 Boston spurt with a trey to pull the Celtics within 75-72 midway through the frame.
Phoenix took an 89-88 margin into the final frame.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
The Suns had 11 steals and forced 19 Boston turnovers in all, which they turned into 24 points ... Phoenix shot 51.1 percent (48-of-94) from the floor, while Boston finished 51.7 percent (45-of-87) from the field.