National Basketball Association
Utah 106, Phoenix 101
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, January 16, 2017
Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Officials: #66 Haywoode Workman, #11 Derrick Collins, #71 Rodney Mott
Attendance: 16767

PHOENIX -- It's been more than a decade since Joe Johnson left the Phoenix Suns, but he's still haunting his former team.

The 35-year-old Johnson scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 49.8 seconds left, and the Utah Jazz held off the Phoenix Suns 106-101 on Monday.

Another ex-Sun, Boris Diaw, added 12 points for the Jazz (27-16). Rudy Gobert led seven Utah players in double figures with 18 points. He added 17 rebounds and blocked a Marquese Chriss shot with eight seconds left to secure the win after Johnson nailed his shot after passing up on an open look earlier in the possession.

"He was open for the first one and he didn't listen to me, which is always good because he decided to run the clock down and hit one," Utah coach Quinn Snyder said. "He knows we believe in him and it was a big-time shot, no question about it. He's been doing that for a long time."

Johnson said he wasn't ready to shoot right away.

"I had just checked back into the game ... I was open, but I was like 'Nah, not this time.' But it came back to me," Johnson said. "It wasn't the look we wanted, but I knew I had to get a shot up and luckily it went in.

"I knew we were going to win the game because we've won a lot of game like this during the season.

Gordon Hayward and George Hill each scored 17 points for the Jazz, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter before rallying to tie their longest winning streak of the season at four games. The NBA's No. 1 defense held the Suns to 21 fourth-quarter points.

"It was an ugly game. That's kind of what they're good at, mucking up the game and being physical," Hayward said.

Eric Bledsoe tied a season high with 31 points and added nine rebounds and nine assists for the Suns (13-28). Devin Booker followed back-to-back games of 39 points in Mexico City with 25 more on Monday.

"We couldn't get any stops. They made playoff team shots," Bledsoe said. "They did what playoff teams do."

Phoenix took its last lead at 101-99 on a T.J. Warren steal and layup with 1:13 left. The Suns didn't score again, and Johnson's 3-pointer put Utah ahead for good.

The Suns played without center Tyson Chandler (flu) and gave up 14 offensive rebounds and 22 second-chance points.

"This is where we miss Tyson. The (second-chance points) is pretty much the ball game," Phoenix coach Earl Watson said. "We still had a chance to win the game ... a tough fade-away (by Johnson) for you to lose it."

Johnson was with the Suns from (2002-05) and said this Suns team reminds him of his early years in Phoenix before Steve Nash arrived to make them a championship contender.

"Right after the Penny Hardaway and Stephon Marbury trade (in January of 2004), me and Amar'e (Stoudemire) were running around with our head cut off, just happy to be playing the game of basketball. We didn't get a lot of wins, but we played hard."

The Suns missed seven of their first eight shots and the Jazz jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead when Joe Ingles feed Hayward for an alley-oop dunk. However, after making four shots in the first four minutes, Utah made only four the rest of the quarter while Bledsoe started to heat up.

Bledsoe had Phoenix's first 10 points and then tied the game at 17 on a 3-point play to cap a 10-2 Suns run. Bledsoe finished with 12 points in the quarter and the Suns led 28-24.

P.J. Tucker added six points and seven rebounds off the bench as Phoenix pushed its lead to six three times in the second quarter. Boris Diaw responded with eight points and three assists off the bench for the Jazz, but Bledsoe's driving lay-in with 27.6 seconds gave the Suns a 53-47 lead at the half.

Bledsoe had 18 points, five assists and five rebounds at intermission.

Warren had nine points in the third quarter as the Suns pushed their lead to as many as 10 points. Phoenix still led 74-67 after a Warren jumper with 3:27 left. But Ingles had 11 in the quarter, including three 3-pointers, two in the final 2:52 to pull Utah to within 80-79 after three.

NOTES: Phoenix C Tyson Chandler, who had at least 15 rebounds in five straight games, missed Monday's game with a stomach flu a day after the Suns returned from their trip to Mexico City. Alex Len started in place of Chandler and scored six points. ... Utah G Rodney Hood didn't make the trip to Phoenix after sustaining a hyperextension and bone contusion on his right knee in the 114-107 win over the Orlando Magic on Saturday. Joe Ingles started in place of Hood and had 11 points. ... Last week, Suns G Devin Booker became the youngest player in NBA history (20 years, 76 days) to score at least 39 in two straight games. Bernard King had held the mark at 20 years, 335 days. Booker has four career games of 38 points or more at 20 years old, joining LeBron James as the only NBA players to do so. ... G Gordon Hayward, who averaged 23.7 points in three Utah wins, was selected the Western Conference Player of the Week.
Top Game Performances
 
Utah   Phoenix
Rudy Gobert 18 Scoring Eric Bledsoe 31
Boris Diaw 6 Assists Eric Bledsoe 9
Rudy Gobert 17 Rebounds P.J Tucker 13
Gordon Hayward 8 Free Throws Made Eric Bledsoe 7
Joe Ingles 2 Steals P.J Tucker 2
Rudy Gobert 4 Blocks Dragan Bender 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Utah 106 46.1 8-23 16-24 22 46 6 4 8
Phoenix 101 49.4 5-22 16-17 13 39 5 4 10
Upcoming Games
  • Phoenix will play their next game on the road against Cleveland. The Suns have a W/L % of .143 after a win and .407 after a loss.
  • Utah will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Jazz have a W/L % of .654 after a win and .588 after a loss.