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Suns hold off Jazz

Apr 5, 2015 - 5:01 AM Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Gerald Green led the way with 24 points off the bench as the Phoenix Suns held off the Utah Jazz for an 87-85 victory on Saturday.

Eric Bledsoe scored 16 points, Brandan Wright netted 14 and Markieff Morris supplied 10 points and seven rebounds for the Suns, who ended a five-game skid and are 3 1/2 games behind Oklahoma City for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"It was kind of a strange game," Phoenix head coach Jeff Hornacek said. "I think it's just a matter of blocking and doing everything right."

Gordon Hayward paced the Jazz with 21 points, Rodney Hood and Derrick Favors scored 17 and 14, respectively, and Rudy Gobert pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds.

Green provided seven straight points for the Suns and P.J. Tucker staked them to an 80-76 lead on a 3 with 6:05 to play. Hayward responded with Utah's next seven points, getting his team within 84-83 with 2:39 remaining.

After Bledsoe and Favors traded baskets, Bledsoe stole the ball from Dante Exum following a Morris miss and then missed his own jumper coming out of a timeout.

Hayward then failed to connect on a stepback jumper with 18.9 seconds to go. Bledsoe split a pair of free throws two seconds later, with Gobert pulling down the rebound.

Coming out of a timeout, Joe Ingles drove in but his shot was off the mark. Hood retrieved the long rebound, but his shot was off the mark and Phoenix held on for the win.

"I thought we executed pretty well down the stretch," said Jazz coach Quin Snyder. "We had a few looks that were pretty good looks."

Hood scored nine points during a 14-0 run to give Utah a 16-6 lead midway through the opening frame, and the Jazz led 18-13 after 12 minutes of play.

Morris followed his brother Marcus' pair of free throws with an alley-oop to tie the game five minutes into the second quarter and his four-point play at the end of an 8-0 run gave the Suns a 47-37 advantage at halftime.

Bledsoe's layup and jumper gave Phoenix a 13-point lead, but the Jazz went on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to 56-49 midway through the third.

Utah continued chipping away and Bryce Cotton ended a 12-2 burst with a 3 for a 61-61 game with 3:35 in the third. Hood followed Ingles' trey with a jumper to give the Jazz a 68-65 edge going into the final stanza.

Game Notes

Suns guard Brandon Knight has missed 11 of his last 12 games with a left ankle sprain ... Utah outrebounded Phoenix by a 47-32 margin ... The Suns shot 43.5 percent from the floor and limited the Jazz to 39.2 percent shooting.