PHOENIX — Guard Eric Bledsoe scored 20 points and forward Markieff Morris added 19 as the Phoenix Suns moved within 2 1/2 games of eighth place in the Western Conference with a 98-92 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at US Airways Center on Sunday.
Morris’ 18-foot jumper from the left baseline over 7-foot-1 center Tyson Chandler with two seconds remaining on the shot clock gave the Suns a 94-89 lead with 29.9 seconds left, and Bledsoe made four free throws in the final 20.5 seconds left as the Suns (38-33) won their fourth straight.
Guard P.J. Tucker had 15 points, 13 in the first quarter, as the Suns finished on an 18-6 run.
Suns reserve guard Archie Goodwin scored on a layup to cap a 7-0 run for an 87-86 lead, and he hit a 3-pointer from the left wing for a 91-88 lead with 2:00 remaining. Goodwin had 10 3-pointers this season.
Dallas forward Chandler Parsons had 19 points and former Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire added 16 points (44-27) for the Mavericks, who have lost two in a row after a three-game winning streak.
The Mavs had a 30-7 run that began midway through the third quarter to take a six-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Suns rallied.
Guard Monta Ellis, who was averaging 19.1 points a game, finished with 11 points on 4-of-22 shooting from the field. He missed his last seven attempts in the final five minutes.
Dallas shot 38.5 percent from the field. The Suns have limited their last six opponents to 91.3 points a game while winning four.
Tucker had 13 points and made all three of his 3-point attempts in the first quarter, when the Suns shot 63.6 percent from the field for a 33-27 lead. Tucker, 6-foot-6 and 260, started the last five games at guard following a Brandon Knight injury suffered against Golden State on March 9.
Morris had eight points in the second quarter as the Suns ended the quarter on a 16-6 run to take a 57-42 halftime lead. The Mavericks had 15 points in the second quarter, a Suns’ low this season.
Ellis scored eight points and Dallas scored 13 straight points in 23-7 run to end the third quarter, trimming the Suns’ lead to 76-75.
NOTES: Dallas G J. J. Barea (left ankle) did not play Sunday after suffering a sprained ankle in practice Saturday. … Suns G Brandon Knight (left ankle) missed his sixth straight game Sunday. Knight, acquired from Milwaukee at the trade deadline, averaged 14.4 points and 4.5 assists in 10 games with the Suns. He is expected to return Wednesday … Suns G Marcus Thornton (big toe) did not play. … Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said he sent a text message to former Suns and Mavericks point guard Steve Nash regarding Friday retirement. “Just telling him I’ve been a long-time admirer of his, both from afar and as someone competing against him,” Carlisle said of the two-time NBA MVP. “He’s been a game-changer in this league. If he hadn’t come along with (Mike) D’Antoni’s team here in Phoenix, I think our game would look a lot different than it does now. Had it not been for an unlucky situation there with some suspensions (in a 2007 playoff series against San Antonio), those guys were right there to be a championship team.” San Antonio beat the Suns in the Western Conference Finals after F Amare Stoudemire and F Boris Diaw were suspended for Game 5 for leaving the bench area after F Robert Horry’s hard foul on Nash. The Spurs won the final two games of that series and beat Cleveland in the finals.