Suns, Spurs lock horns at AT&T Center
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(SportsNetwork.com) - The Phoenix Suns have pulled into a virtual tie for the seventh seed in the Western Conference with the San Antonio Spurs, but something will have to give when the two squads meet Friday night at the AT&T Center.
The Suns have won four straight and 10 of their last 12. Phoenix has scored 100-plus points in 10 consecutive games and its two losses since Dec. 17 came by a combined seven points.
The Suns took the first two games of their current four-game road trip, which ends Sunday evening in Memphis. After the tilt with the Grizzlies, the Suns play eight straight at home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Phoenix reached 2-0 on the trek with a 113-111 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
After trailing for much of the game, the Suns staged a late comeback to get the win. Down seven after three quarters, Gerald Green took over the game for the Suns. He scored 13 of their first 15 points of the quarter, and his 8-0 run gave Phoenix its first lead since early in the first period.
The Suns made the plays late to secure the win.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Timberwolves had a chance to win the game at the buzzer with an Andrew Wiggins 3-pointer, but his shot was off the mark to extend their losing streak to 13 games.
Goran Dragic paced the Suns with 25 points and Green added 21 off the bench in Phoenix's victory. Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas each netted 17 points.
"They did some good things," Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said. "They all played well."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Spurs had a two-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday when the red-hot Detroit Pistons came to Alamo City and left with a 105-104 victory.
Brandon Jennings raced down the court following a San Antonio turnover and made the game-winning shot with 0.1 seconds left.
The Spurs left the door open after going 4-of-8 from the foul line over the final 1:52. The Pistons pulled within 104-103 on a pair of Jodie Meeks free throws with eight seconds remaining. Following a 20-second timeout, Tim Duncan threw the ensuing inbound pass behind Patty Mills and Jennings made a bank shot at the other end.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jeff Ayres finished with 16 points for the Spurs. Duncan and Danny Green scored 15 and 13 points, respectively.
San Antonio point guard Tony Parker played just 13 minutes in his return from a five-game absence due to a hamstring injury. He ended with three points.
"He is healthy. He wanted to play, but I was being conservative," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "He had 13 minutes and that is good after resting as long as he did. I wanted to make sure he didn't reinjure it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Suns bested the Spurs by five in Phoenix on Halloween, however the defending champs are 9-3 in their last 12 versus the Suns. San Antonio has won seven of the last eight meetings as the host.