• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Suns take win streak to Washington

Mar 26, 2014 - 2:01 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Phoenix Suns have won four straight and find themselves seriously back in the Western Conference playoff picture, but face a tough road challenge Wednesday night when they visit the Verizon Center to battle the Washington Wizards.

The Suns haven't lost since St. Patrick's Day and find themselves just a half- game behind both the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies for the seventh spot in the Western Conference postseason race.

Phoenix is 2-0 on a current road trip, which ends Wednesday in the nation's capital.

On Monday, the Suns bested the Atlanta Hawks, 102-95.

Gerald Green scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Suns. Eric Bledsoe tallied 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Goran Dragic added 19 points and six assists for the Suns, who have won six of their last seven.

Channing Frye scored 18 points, while Markieff Morris chipped in 17 off the bench. P.J. Tucker grabbed 11 boards as the Suns shot 51.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from long range.

"I didn't think we were playing all that great. We were kind of just playing, then in the third quarter we came out and really got after it defensively," Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said.

The Wizards return to Washington after a 1-3 western swing. Their only victory came Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, but they lost Sunday versus the Denver Nuggets, 105-102.

Bradley Beal ended with 21 points, seven boards and two steals for the Wizards. Trevor Ariza and Marcin Gortat donated 18 and 16 points, respectively, with Gortat also pulling down 10 boards. John Wall and Drew Gooden each had 15 points for Washington.

Washington got within 94-91 on Gortat's tip-in with 5:19 remaining, but John Wall was called for a charge on the Wizards' next trip down the court. The Nuggets pulled ahead by seven, then Denver went 7-of-8 from the foul line down the stretch to seal the victory.

"It's just careless turnovers and over-dribbling, especially with me jumping in the air and looking for passes where guys could've been but we didn't do a good job of spacing," Wall said. "I feel like we could've won this game with how we opened up but we turned the ball over too much and they kept making shots and sticking around."

The Wizards beat the Suns in Phoenix on Jan. 24 and have taken three straight in this series. Washington is just 1-6 in its last seven as the host against the Suns.