Collin Sexton scored a season-high 30 points, Tre Jones added 21, and the skeleton crew Chicago Bulls never trailed in a 105-103 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Thursday.
Guerschon Yabusele had 16 points and Rob Dillingham added 11 off the bench for the Bulls, who saw a 12-point lead with six minutes left dwindle to one before holding on.
Devin Booker scored 27 points, Grayson Allen added 21, and Jalen Green 12 points for the Suns, who had a two-game winning streak broken and have lost seven of 11.
The Bulls had lost 12 of 13. Their 120-97 victory over Milwaukee on March 1 broke an 11-game, 0 for February losing streak.
The Suns had won 11 straight in the series.
Sexton’s 3-pointer gave the Bulls their largest lead at 97-85 with 6:14 left before the Suns closed.
Allen and Amir Coffey (12 points) hit 3-pointers as the Suns cut the deficit to 98-94 before Jones hit a layup to put the Bulls back on top 100-94.
Green hit a layup and Coffey made a free throw before Yabusele’s third 3-pointer pushed the lead back to 103-97. Coffey hit a 3-pointer, and after Jones made a free throw, Booker’s deep 3-pointer made it 104-103 with 22.9 seconds remaining.
The Bulls turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play and Green missed a driving layup with five seconds left. Nick Richards was fouled on the rebound and made a free throw before missing the second, and the Bulls controlled the loose rebound as time ran out.
Chicago attacked the paint against a pliant Suns defense that was without center Mark Williams, who is expected to miss two-to-three weeks with a stress reaction in his left foot, the Suns said.
The Bulls had 68 points in the paint, 38 in the first half.
Bulls forward Leonard Miller had eight points and nine rebounds in his first start of the season for Chicago.
The Bulls played without leading scorers Josh Giddey (17.7 points per game) and Matas Buzelis (15.3) (ankle) after both suffered ankle injuries in a loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Buzelis missed his first game of the season.
Sexton was 11 of 19 from the field for his third straight 20-point game as the Bulls went 47.7 percent from the field.
The Suns made 39.1 percent. Booker, Green, Allen and Collin Gillespie were a combined 21 of 66.
–Field Level Media
