Suns drop 12th straight, improve lottery chances

The Phoenix Suns’ chances in the May 16 NBA draft lottery got a little better Sunday night.

Phoenix lost for the 12th straight time, falling to the James Harden-less Houston Rockets, 123-116 at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The loss, coupled with the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over Memphis earlier in the day, gave the Suns the worst record in the Western Conference. They’re a half-game behind the Lakers, who have played one less game.

Tyler Ulis had a career-high 34 points in the loss to go along with nine assists and nine rebounds. ROCKETS 123, SUNS 116

FG FT Reb Min M-A M-A O-T Dekker 19:29 0-0 0-0 0-2 T.Williams 38:33 7-12 1-2 1-5 Capela 24:45 4-11 0-0 4-12 Beverley 35:02 11-19 0-0 3-8 Gordon 37:07 9-24 2-3 3-6 L.Williams 29:36 7-14 7-8 2-4 Hilario 23:15 7-11 3-6 0-5 Taylor 15:22 1-3 1-2 0-1 Harrell 12:14 1-5 1-2 0-3 Wiltjer 4:37 0-1 0-0 0-0 Totals 240:00 47-100 15-23 13-46 Percentages: FG .470, FT .652. 3-Point Goals: 14-38, .368 (T.Williams 6-9, Beverley 4-9, L.Williams 2-7, Gordon 2-8, Taylor 0-1, Wiltjer 0-1, Harrell 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 15 (0 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Gordon 3, Hilario, Taylor). Turnovers: 15 (Capela 4, L.Williams 4, Beverley 2, Hilario 2, Dekker, T.Williams, Wiltjer). Steals: 8 (Hilario 3, Beverley, Capela, Gordon, T.Williams, Taylor). Phoenix FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Chriss 27:44 4-10 1-4 3-6 1 3 9 Jones 33:51 5-8 0-0 5-8 1 4 10 Len 27:53 2-6 6-6 3-12 0 2 10 Booker 39:29 7-22 12-12 0-5 9 4 27 Ulis 45:13 15-22 1-1 2-9 9 4 34 Dudley 33:46 4-14 4-4 2-9 1 1 15 Bender 14:09 4-9 0-2 3-7 0 3 9 Price 11:18 0-3 0-0 1-1 3 1 0 A.Williams 6:37 1-6 0-0 3-4 0 2 2 Totals 240:00 42-100 24-29 22-61 24 24 116 Percentages: FG .420, FT .828. 3-Point Goals: 8-34, .235 (Ulis 3-7, Dudley 3-11, Bender 1-3, Booker 1-6, Jones 0-1, Price 0-2, Chriss 0-4). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 23 (0 PTS). Blocked Shots: 12 (Chriss 4, Len 4, Bender 2, A.Williams, Jones). Turnovers: 23 (Booker 8, Ulis 4, Chriss 3, A.Williams 2, Jones 2, Len 2, Bender, Dudley). Steals: 8 (Dudley 3, Price 2, Booker, Jones, Ulis). Technical Fouls: Booker, 1:54 third. Houston Houston Phoenix A—17,378 (18,422). T—2:12. Officials—Bennie Adams, Kevin Cutler, John Goble 31 21 28 33 31 29 A PF PTS 0 0 0 3 5 21 3 3 8 9 4 26 5 2 22 2 2 23 0 2 17 0 2 3 1 2 3 0 1 0 23 23 123 33 — 33 — 123 116