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Bledsoe's 3-pointer helps Phoenix down Utah

Nov 2, 2013 - 5:54 AM Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Once Eric Bledsoe got off the schneid, there was no turning back.

Bledsoe scored the Suns' final 14 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left, in Phoenix's 87-84 triumph over the Utah Jazz.

Bledsoe missed 10 of his first 11 shots from the field before making three of his last four. He had 17 of his 18 points in the final frame.

After Bledsoe split a pair of foul shots to give the Suns an 84-81 lead with 30.4 seconds left, Gordon Hayward nailed a game-tying triple over P.J. Tucker from straightaway with 22.9 ticks to go.

Bledsoe then took the clock down and lulled Hayward to sleep before rising above him and swishing the trey from the top of the arc.

"I knew that he was playing me to drive so I was going to wait until the clock got really low to shoot it but I already had it in my mind that I was going to shoot it. I had planned on it being a three. He dared me to shoot and so I knew I was going to shoot it," Bledsoe said.

Following a timeout, Hayward stepped out of bounds along the left wing.

Phoenix head coach Jeff Hornacek, meanwhile, has the Suns at 2-0 for the first time in four years after defeating the organization he was with for the past two decades.

After beginning the first six years of his career with the Suns, Hornacek spent the final 6 1/2 seasons with the Jazz alongside John Stockton and Karl Malone where Utah reached consecutive NBA Finals. Hornacek retired in 2000 before returning to the Jazz in 2007 as a shooting coach. He joined head coach Tyrone Corbin as an assistant in 2011 before taking the Suns head coaching gig during the offseason.

Miles Plumlee added 13 points and 13 rebounds in the triumph.

Enes Kanter registered 20 points and 12 boards, Derrick Favors had 14 points and 17 rebounds and Hayward added 18 points, 10 boards and eight assists for Utah, which dropped its opener to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.

"We had a couple of turnovers there that really hurt us," Corbin said of the final four minutes.

Bledsoe's onslaught began with a three-point play to tie the game at 76-76 with 4:02 left. Kanter converted a layup at the other end, but Bledsoe answered with his first three of the game. He missed his first five attempts from distance.

Favors' spin move and layup along the left baseline gave the Jazz an 80-79 lead, but the pendulum swung back in the Suns' favor after Bledsoe sunk four straight from the charity stripe for an 83-80 spread with 1:34 left.

Hayward made 1-of-2 free throws with 35.5 to go to pull Utah with two.

Earlier, Phoenix took a 29-23 margin after a quarter of play before the Jazz outscored the hosts 23-14 in the second to take a 46-43 spread into the break.

The Jazz led 53-45 early in the third before Dionte Christmas tallied the final seven points of a 9-1 swing to tie the game at 54-54 midway through the frame.

Phoenix took a 63-62 edge into the fourth.

Game Notes

Suns starting point guard Goran Dragic exited the game in the third quarter with a right face contusion following a collision with teammate Markieff Morris ... Phoenix scored 22 points off 21 Utah turnovers.