Ulis leads Suns into Summer League quarterfinals
Second-round draft pick Tyler Ulis had 20 points and eight assists to lead the Suns to a 77-74 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League tournament.
Those @tulis3 handles tho... ?? pic.twitter.com/La2xSzvfuW
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 14, 2016
The Suns advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament and will play next at 3 p.m. Saturday against the Denver Nuggets.
Ulis took charge for a Suns team playing without Devin Booker and first-round draft pick Marquese Chriss. The Suns took the lead for good, 68-66, on a pullup jumper by Ulis with 5:03 left.
The Heat had a chance to tie after Phoenix's Troy Williams missed the back end of two free throws with one second left, bBut Damion Lee's 3-pointer was off the mark with 0.2 seconds to play.
So clutch. @alantwilliams sends the #SummerSuns to the @NBASummerLeague quarterfinals with this late putback. pic.twitter.com/HnYN6Tpgff
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 14, 2016
The Suns (3-1) committed 20 turnovers but won the rebounding battle, 44-28, and shot 45.2 percent from the field.
Troy Williams and Kyle Kuric scored 15 points apiece for the Suns, and first-round draft pick Dragan Bender had 10 points and nine rebounds, although he shot 3 of 13 overall and 2 of 9 from 3-point range.
Victor Rudd scored 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting for the Heat (3-2). Lee added 16 and Briante Weber finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists.