Suns shoot down Hornets with 19 3s to end skid
PHOENIX -- All the Suns needed to end a long losing streak was a visit from the Charlotte Hornets. That and a bunch of 3-pointers.
Behind a season-high 19 3s and Devin Booker's first career double-double, the Suns on Wednesday put an end to a nine-game skid with a 111-102 victory at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Mirza Teletovic made five 3s, including on back-to-back possessions at the end of the third quarter, and the Suns held the Hornets to 17 points in the fourth quarter to win for the first time since Dec. 18.
"It was overdue," P.J. Tucker said of the victory that, remarkably, pulled the Suns within four games of a playoff seed.
The Suns used a small lineup in the fourth with Teletovic at center and Tucker at power forward to put away Charlotte. Tucker finally sealed it with a 3 from the right corner with 54 seconds left -- on a pass from Teletovic.
Many of the Suns 3s came off similar kick outs or other ball movement.
"They do a good job of packing the paint," coach Jeff Hornacek said of the Hornets. "They're tops in the league of not giving you a restricted-area shot, I think. ... We try to tell them when they drive, they should know where everybody is, so when two guys come, they can make the right pass. I thought our guys did that, and that's why we were getting those 3s.
"They shot the ball with confidence tonight, obviously. We shot 19 for 33 from the 3-point line, so that's a food start for getting that confidence back."
The nine-game skid was the Suns' longest of the season. They ended a season-worst six-game losing streak last season with a win over the Hornets.
The victory was Jeff Hornacek's 100th as head coach.
"The wins should fall in now, because the losing streak was because he was on 99," said Tucker, who was writhing in pain after he took a knee to the thigh early in the third quarter but was back in the fourth.
Brandon Knight had 18 points and TJ Warren and Booker each scored 17 points. Booker also had 10 rebounds and, according to Basketball-Reference, became the second teenage guard to post 17 points and 10 rebounds; the other was Washington's Bradley Beal in 2013.
"I'm just trying to do what I have to do to make the team win," Booker said. "We went with a small lineup when we put P.J. at the four, so I knew I'd have to be more active on the glass and that's what I did.
"It was a much needed victory for us. We came up short on a couple games late ... so this is a big win for us and we just have to build on it."
Hornacek went with Ronnie Price in the starting lineup for the first time, and bench trio of Booker, Warren and Teletovic combined to outscore the Hornets reserves 53-23 and send Charlotte to its fifth straight loss.
After the Suns' skid-snapping win over Charlotte last season, they also won the next five. Perhaps history repeats.