Hawks, Suns tangle in Phoenix
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(SportsNetwork.com) - The Phoenix Suns ended a losing streak last time out and will try to build on that momentum Sunday night when they host the struggling Atlanta Hawks.
The Suns had dropped three straight until a Friday night home encounter with the New Orleans Pelicans. Phoenix defended its home court and earned a 116-104 victory.
Goran Dragic scored a career-high 40 points with five assists to lead the Suns to victory. Dragic, who sat out Wednesday's loss at Utah with a sprained ankle, set his previous career high at 35 last Sunday against Houston.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think he's in the point in his career where he's seeing every possible defense and when they do something, he adjusts to it," Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said of Dragic. "When you go for 40, you're pretty darn good."
Markieff Morris scored 18 points, while his brother Marcus added 15. Gerald Green chipped in 12 points in the win.
The Suns will host the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City after the Hawks leave town.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Atlanta was dreadful in the month of February, going 2-10 The Hawks have lost two in a row and 10 of their last 11. Thank goodness for the New York Knicks, the only team the Hawks have beaten since Feb. 1.
Atlanta has also dropped six in a row on the road and the Hawks didn't get a six-game road trip off to a good start Friday night with a 115-104 loss to the Boston Celtics.
Jeff Teague had 26 points and DeMarre Carroll registered 24 points and seven rebounds for Atlanta.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We had more turnovers, they had more offensive rebounds and all of that just becomes too much to overcome," Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Kyle Korver made four 3-pointers to extend his NBA record streak of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 126. He finished with 17 points against the Celtics.
Lou Williams (13) and Elton Brand (10) also scored in double figures for the Hawks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Hawks will visit the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers and Utah Jazz on this all-important trip. The Hawks fell to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and 3 1/2 games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons for that final playoff spot.
The Suns have taken five of the last seven meetings between the two teams and are 5-1 in their last six as the host in this series.