Eric Bledsoe with 40 points, Suns hand Raptors third straight loss

Eric Bledsoe(Pictured) poured in 40 points and Devin Booker added 20 more as the Phoenix Suns beat Toronto 115-103 on Sunday to hand the Raptors their first three-game losing skid in over a year. (Photo: Eric Bledsoe/ Facebook)

TORONTO –Eric Bledsoe poured in 40 points and Devin Booker added 20 more as the Phoenix Suns beat Toronto 115-103 on Sunday to hand the Raptors their first three-game losing skid in over a year.

Toronto led by eight points in the fourth quarter but the Suns (15-29) used a 20-7 run to take control of the game.

Tyson Chandler had 16 points and PJ Tucker chipped in with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors (28-16) with 22 points and Jonas Valanciunas recorded his team-leading 17th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Toronto, which got double-digit point totals from each of its five starters, hadn’t lost three straight since Nov., 2015.

Kyle Lowry had a rough night from three-point range, hitting just 1 of 9, but he finished with 15 points. Lowry was also ejected with 1:30 left in the game after a flagrant-two foul following contact with the head of Brandon Knight.

Lucas Nogueira, back in the starting lineup after missing two games as part of the NBA’s concussion protocol, scored 13 points, including 11 in the first quarter alone. DeMarre Carroll had 14 points.

DeRozan left for the locker-room with under two minutes to go in the game. He had rolled his ankle while making a shot earlier in the fourth quarter.

Phoenix, which swept the season series against Toronto for first time since the 2013-14 campaign, improved to 7-17 on the road while the Raptors fell to 15-7 at home.

The game was a rematch of Dec. 29’s contest in Phoenix, which the Raptors lost 99-91.

The first quarter was all Nogueira. He came out hot with a running dunk just one minute into the game, then added an alley-oop dunk moments later to put Toronto up 10-3.

Phoenix tied the game 23-23 late in the first on a 7-0 run but Toronto re-took the lead at 28-26 with a Nogueira three-pointer and closed out the first with a 31-28 edge.

The Suns capped the first half with a dunk from Chandler to head into the locker-room down by three, 60-57.

DeRozan led Toronto with 12 points in the second quarter after scoring just four in the first. Phoenix’s Bledsoe led all players at the half with 18 points.

Lowry, who was just 2 of 8 in the first half, took advantage of a Phoenix turnover and ran in alone with a layup to put Toronto up 65-60 four minutes in.

The Raptors saw a seven-point lead dwindle back down to three by the end of the third quarter. They went into the final 12 minutes up 85-82.

Toronto opened the final quarter with a pair of Nogueira free throws and a long three from Terrence Ross for an eight-point lead, it’s largest of the game.

A three from Booker cut the Suns’ deficit back to one two minutes in and a Chandler tied the game 95-95 two minutes later.

The Suns went on a tear from there, with a Chandler dunk putting Phoenix up by nine, 109-100 with two minutes to go.

NOTES: Patrick Patterson sat out his sixth straight game with a sore left knee. Patterson injured himself in the Dec. 29 game in Phoenix. … Toronto hosts the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night.