During the NBA’s Monday night slate, the Suns beat the Toronto Raptors 114-106 to win for the sixth time in seven games. Mikal Bridges scored 29 points, and Deandre Ayton added 22 points and 13 rebounds.
When Ayton saw the Phoenix Suns pull away for another win in the final minutes, he had to do a double-take. Those big midrange buckets in the fourth quarter came from Bridges, not Devin Booker, who was injured.
“I told Booker — ‘You know what’s crazy? These are your plays,’” Ayton said, teasing his teammate. “These are Mikal’s plays now.”
With Booker on the sidelines with a groin injury, the Suns have been able to rely on 6-foot-6 Bridges for lead scoring duties. Bridges has traditionally been a good defensive player as well as a good three-point shooter. He shot 12 of 19 from the field against the Raptors, including 3 of 4 from deep. He is averaging 23 points over his last nine games.
“I’m loving it,” Suns guard Chris Paul said. “It’s a confidence thing and I think it just keeps building.”
There were 16 lead changes and five ties in a contest in which neither team led by more than 10 points. Toronto took an 84-82 lead into the fourth quarter after scoring 12 straight points after trailing by nine to start the second half.
NBA SCORES & NEWS: Mikal Bridges, Phoenix Suns & Toronto Raptors Updates
In the final minutes, Phoenix pulled away from the game after Bridges made two clutch jumpers and Paul made a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 106-102 lead. With 51.4 seconds remaining, Ayton added a tip-in to increase the Suns’ lead to 108-102. Paul finished with 19 points and nine assists.
“They threw some shots in that we needed to miss,” Raptors guard Fred VanVleet said. “We fought hard, we competed, but give them credit.”
A 24-point performance from VanVleet and nine assists from Trent and Siakam led the Raptors. Trent and Siakam each finished with 21 points.
“We were playing really hard, really well,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “We could have down a few things and shored up the rebounding, but it didn’t really bounce our way when it needed to.”
NBA SCORES & NEWS: Mikal Bridges, Phoenix Suns & Toronto Raptors Updates
As the Suns went into the halftime break with a 62-53 lead, Bridges scored 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting.
“I felt it for sure,” Bridges said. “The crowd had me all gassed up. The crowd and our bench. I felt it from both of them.”
