Bridges scores 29, Suns pull away late, beat Raptors 114-106

PHOENIX (AP)— Deandre Ayton had to do a double-take in the final minutes as hisPhoenix Suns pulled away for another win.

His eyesweren’t playing tricks. That was Mikal Bridges getting bigmid-range buckets during crucial possessions in the fourth quarter,not injured All-Star guard Devin Booker.

Bridges hadone of his best games of the season with 29 points, Ayton added 22points and 13 rebounds and the Suns won for the sixth time in sevengames by beating the Toronto Raptors 114-106 on Monday night.

“I toldBooker — ‘You know what’s crazy? These are your plays,’” Aytonsaid, teasing his teammate. “These are Mikal’s plays now.”

The Suns areon a bit of roll despite missing Booker the past several weeks. The6-foot-6 Bridges has always been a solid player — mostly known forhis defense and 3-point shooting — but he has morphed into a leadscoring option with Booker on the shelf with a groin injury.

Thefifth-year player is averaging 23 points per game over his lastnine contests, which has coincided with a Suns revival after anextended midseason swoon. He shot 12 of 19 from the field againstthe Raptors, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

“I’m lovingit,” Suns guard Chris Paul said. “It’s a confidence thing and Ithink it just keeps building.”

Neither teamled by more than 10 points in a contest that featured 16 leadchanges and five ties.

The Raptorstrailed by nine to start the second half but scored 12 straightpoints in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the third quarter to take a65-62 lead. Toronto took an 84-82 advantage into the fourth.

The gamestayed tight from that point forward until Phoenix pulled away inthe final minutes. Bridges had a pair of clutch jumpers before Paulmade a 3-pointer to push the Suns ahead 106-102 with 1:30 left.Ayton added a tip-in with 51.4 seconds left to extend the advantageto 108-102.

Paul finishedwith 19 points and nine assists.

“They threwsome shots in that we needed to miss,” Raptors guard Fred VanVleetsaid. “We fought hard, we competed, but give them credit.”

Toronto wasled by VanVleet’s 24 points and nine assists. Gary Trent Jr. added21 points while Pascal Siakam had 19.

“We wereplaying really hard, really well,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.“We could have down a few things and shored up the rebounding, butit didn’t really bounce our way when it needed to.”

Bridgesscored 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting to push the Suns to a 62-53halftime lead.

“I felt itfor sure,” Bridges said. “The crowd had me all gassed up. The crowdand our bench. I felt it from both of them.”

TIP-INS

Raptors: GO.G. Anunoby (wrist) and F Otto Porter Jr. (foot) were out. ...Shot just 9 of 33 (27.3%) from 3-point range.

Suns: GuardsDevin Booker (groin), Cameron Payne (foot) and Landry Shamet (foot)were out. ... Hosted a 53rd straight sellout crowd. ... Paul hit a3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer to give the Suns a 32-28lead. ... Dario Saric added 11 points over 14 minutes off thebench.