Rose-less Bulls snap Suns' 3-game win streak

The Suns never gave up. Things did get better. But at the end of a 103-97 loss, what mattered most was that they even had to deal with a 17-point deficit less than 16 minutes into the game.

The Suns overcame it and even led but outplaying the Bulls for the remainder of the game mattered little when they had no margin for error down the stretch, where Chicago erased a brief Suns lead for a 103-97 victory Wednesday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

The Suns got away with allowing the Lakers to shooting 48.1 percent on Monday but the Bulls’ 49.4 percent shooting on Wednesday stood up on the strength of a much better defense and All-Star-quality shots from Jimmy Butler.

The Suns’ three-game winning streak ended with 40.7 percent shooting, making four of their five losses on nights that they have shot less than 41 percent. Butler, making multiple difficult shots, scored a season-high 32 points on 11-of-23 shooting and scored nine of the Bulls’ final 11 points.

The Suns led 88-87 with 4:47 to go before Pau Gasol’s rolling slam put Chicago ahead for good, starting a 7-0 run that kept the Suns from ever getting within a possession again. Butler finished with his left hand over Tyson Chandler, beat the shot clock and P.J. Tucker’s good defense for a long jump shot and hit a 3-pointer over Markieff Morris after the Suns scrambled through a series of defensive switches.

“They are a good team; they don’t need any extra confidence,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. “But when they come in and make the first 11 of 13 baskets that they take, now you’re uphill. We were battling all night to get back and finally get the lead and then they made shots.”

The Suns (6-5) were going for their first undefeated homestand of four or more games since 2009 but Chicago (8-3) won its fourth consecutive game despite not having Derrick Rose, who sat out with an ankle sprain. Rose has only played in Phoenix four times during his career and only once since 2010.

The Bulls, backed by a boisterous Bulls throng (“It’s how it is; welcome to Phoenix,” Tucker said), did not seem to miss Rose by getting to the rim or hitting open jump shots for a 31-18 first quarter and a 40-23 lead after 3:34 of the second quarter.

Suns guards Brandon Knight (23 points, five turnovers) and Eric Bledsoe (21 points, seven assists) led the team’s scoring again but were 15 for 42 from the field combined.

With T.J. Warren out for illness, small forward P.J. Tucker recorded a season scoring high for a second consecutive game. His 20 points came within two of his career high and gives him 31 points in the past two games after scoring 45 in the first nine games.

“I just wanted to be more aggressive, period,” said Tucker, wanting to take advantage when another team’s top wing defender is on Bledsoe or Knight. “I kind of started out the year deferring to everybody else, not being as aggressive. Now, I get to see my spots now that we’ve got a bunch more games in.”

Suns power forward Markieff Morris returned after missing basketball games for injury for the first time in his life. Morris was out for two games after spraining his left knee early in a win against the Clippers but said he was not limited by his soreness Wednesday.

Morris was three of nine from the field, putting him at 36.6 percent shooting for the season, and tallied six points and five rebounds in 29 minutes. In the fourth quarter, Hornacek had sent Mirza Teletovic to check into the game for Morris but kept Morris in the game after Morris made a jump shot with 5:15 to go to set up Bledsoe free throws that gave the Suns a lead.

Tucker was the only Suns starter to hit at least half of his shots, going eight for 15. Reserves Devin Booker and Mirza Teletovic each made two 3-pointers but the rest of the team was four for 20 on 3s. The Suns were successful in transition but went 28 for 75 (37.3 percent) on other possessions.

After taking that 88-87 lead, Knight missed on the next three trips – a 3-point try, a drive and a floater.

Chicago came into the game shooting 43.0 percent on the season but made 49.4 percent of its shots Wednesday.

“I think it was too easy,” Hornacek said. “The guys were able to lineup their shots. I’m sure when we look at the tape, the aggression on the ball in that second quarter, we got after it a little bit more, put a little more pressure on the passers where the guys couldn’t easily throw it to one another. It’s hard to maintain effort for 48 minutes but if you can get to that point, the Bulls do a pretty good job of having that intensity. That’s a level we have to get to.”

Reach Paul Coro at paul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him at twitter.com/paulcoro.

Suns report

Key player: Chicago guard Jimmy Butler made nine of 21 shots for 27 points.

Key moment: The Suns dug a 40-23 hole to start the game by allowing Chicago to make 16 of its first 23 shots.

Key number: 27, missed shots by Suns starting guards on 42 tries.

View from press row

With Derrick Rose out, Aaron Brooks went from not playing in the Bulls’ previous game to scoring 12 points off the bench Wednesday against his former Suns team. Brooks came to the Suns in 2011 when the Suns traded Goran Dragic and a first-round pick to Houston to get him. That pick became Nikola Mirotic, who also scored 10 for Chicago on Wednesday.

Photos from the Bulls-Suns game: