Suns keep playoff hopes alive with 4th straight win

The Phoenix Suns are still very much alive in the race for eighth in the Western Conference.

Behind a double-double performance from forward Markieff Morris on Sunday, the Suns downed the Dallas Mavericks 98-92 to move into ninth place.

Morris was instrumental in the win. He didn't have the best shooting performance as he finished just 7-of-17 from the field, but he poured in 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and put the nail in the Mavericks' coffin late in the fourth.

With the Suns leading by three points in the final minute, Morris connected on an 18-foot baseline jumper with Mavericks center Tyson Chandler draped all over him to put the game to bed.

Markieff's twin brother Marcus Morris also came up big. Marcus scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and tied a career-high with seven assists in the win.

It was a tightly contested affair throughout. The Mavericks' offense was hampered by a lack of 3-point shooting (Dallas was 5-of-19 from deep). Dallas's leading scorer Monta Ellis epitomized their shooting woes, finishing with just 11 points on 4-of-22 shooting.

Eric Bledsoe and P.J. Tucker deserve recognition for keeping Monta in check. Bledsoe also did a fine job facilitating the Suns' offense and filled the boxscore with a line of 20 points, six rebounds, nine assists and three steals.

The win helped boost the Suns' faint playoff hopes as their four-game win streak sees them nipping at the heels of the Oklahoma City Thunder who beat the Miami Heat on Sunday night. The Suns sit 2.5 games back of eighth.

Meanwhile, the loss puts Dallas one game behind the San Antonio Spurs for seventh in the West and shrinks the Mavericks' lead to 3.5 games up on Oklahoma City.