Suns stuff struggling Grizzlies
Tyson Chandler learned of the Suns’ crafty inbounds play when Jay Triano became head coach early this season. With 0.6 of a second left in a tie game Tuesday night, he asked Triano during a timeout if Phoenix was going to run it. Triano said yes. Dragan Bender and Chandler did the rest.
Bender threw a perfect pass at the rim from the opposite sideline, Chandler jumped over the Grizzlies’ Brandan Wright to slam it home with 0.4 of a second left, and the Suns beat visiting Memphis 99-97.
After replay review for offensive goaltending, the basket counted, and the Grizzlies couldn’t get off a decent shot before the final buzzer.
“My job was to punch it in. It was close,” Chandler said. “It might have hit the back rim but I caught it over the cylinders because I knew there was no goaltending.” Triano described his plan. “I told our guy (Bender) to shoot the ball in the basket and all Tyson has to do is touch it on the way down or grab the rim and have it hit your knuckle and go in,” Triano said, explaining the no-goaltending-from-outof-bounds rule that made the basket good.
Had Chandler not touched Bender’s pass and it went through the hoop, the basket would not have counted.
“He got a little push. They usually don’t call that stuff at the end of the game. I went up and my hand went under and through the rim, so it kind of messed my timing up a little bit,” Wright said. “They just made a play, a perfect pass.”
Devin Booker scored 32 points in his return from a three-week injury absence before fouling out in the final minute, but the Suns needed one final play after Jarell Martin slammed in a rebound with 0.6 of a second left to tie it 97-97.
“It is what it is,” Memphis head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. Mavericks 98, Raptors 93: J.J. Barea scored 20 points, including a clinching a layup in the final seconds, and host Dallas ended a six-game winning streak by Toronto. Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 points for Dallas and fellow German Maxi Kleber had 15 and added five blocked shots. Clippers 122, Kings 95: Montrezl Harrell scored 22 points and Lou Williams added 21, both off the bench, to lead host Los Angeles to the rout of Sacramento. Willie Cauley-Stein scored 17 points for the Kings. Nuggets 107, Jazz 83: Jamal Murray scored 13 of his 22 points in the first quarter, and host Denver overcame the ejection of Nikola Jokic to beat Utah for its third win in a row. Jokic had 13 points and seven rebounds before getting tossed in the fourth quarter for a flagrant foul 2. Bulls 115, Bucks 106: Nikola Mirotic came off the bench to score 24 points in 28 minutes and visiting Chicago won for the eighth time in 10 games. Chicago’s surge coincides with the return of Mirotic, who missed the beginning of the season after suffering facial fractures in an October fight with teammate Bobby Portis. Pistons 107, Pacers 83: Tobias Harris scored 30 points to help host Detroit rout Indiana. The victory moved the Pistons (19-14) past the Pacers (19-15) and into second spot in the Central Division. Heat 107, Magic 89: Josh Richardson scored 20 points, Wayne Ellington had 12 of his 18 points in a dominant fourth quarter and host Miami beat struggling Orlando. Elfrid Payton scored 19 points for the Magic, who started 8-4, and are 3-20 since then. Spurs 109, Nets 97: Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 and host San Antonio beat Brooklyn in the Spurs’ first game of the season with every player healthy.