PHOENIX — Collin Sexton scored a season-high 30 points and the Chicago Bulls held off the Phoenix Suns 105-103 on Thursday night for their second victory in three games following an 11-game losing streak.
Down 12 with less than six minutes to play, the Suns pulled to 104-103 on Devin Booker’s 3-pointer with 23 seconds left.
Jalen Green had a chance to give the Suns their first lead but missed a running layup, with Amir Coffey fouling the Bulls’ Nick Richards with 4.1 seconds to play. Richards made the first free throw and missed the second, with a scramble for the rebound running out the clock.
Tre Jones added 21 points and Guerschon Yabusele had 16 for the Bulls in the opener of a five-game trip. Sexton, acquired on Feb. 4 from the Charlotte Hornets as part of the Coby White trade, was 11-of-19 shooting to surpass his previous season high of 22 points, which he did three times with his former team.
The Bulls were without Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey after they suffered ankle injuries in a home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
Booker led the Suns with 27 points in his second game after missing four because of a right hip injury. Grayson Allen added 21 points. Green had 12 points on 5-of-20 shooting. He was 1 of 8 from 3-point range.
Seventh in the West, the Suns had won two straight. They are without Dillon Brooks because of a fractured left hand.
Up next
Bulls: at Sacramento Kings on Saturday night
Suns: vs. New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.