Beaten Heat tip hot Suns for play-off spot

PHOENIX • No National Basketball Association (NBA) team have yet to punch their ticket to the play-offs, but the Miami Heat are convinced that the Phoenix Suns will make it there.

Last year's NBA finalists were swept by the hosts in regular season for the first time since 2006-07 after losing 106-86 on Tuesday.

Deandre Ayton finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds to propel the Suns to their third win in a row and 10th victory in 11 games.

Phoenix are now 31-7 since Jan 28 and their form has seen them shoot up the Western Conference standings to second, 51/2 games in front of NBA champions Los Angeles Lakers, who are in fifth.

Ayton, who shot 8-for-10 from the field, was one of six Suns players who scored in double figures. Four of those were reserves as Phoenix's bench outscored Miami's second unit 65-24.

Cameron Johnson finished with 15 points while fellow reserves Cameron Payne (14 points), Torrey Craig (14) and Dario Saric (13) also had strong cameos.

Their strength in depth left Heat coach Erik Spoelstra impressed.

"They're a very good defence. They did that similarly to us in Miami.

"Got us out of our normal flow, flattened us out a little bit. Things started to slow down and we held on to the ball too much," he said.

Phoenix have not reached the play-offs since 2009-10 but they were the only undefeated NBA team during the regular-season portion of last season's "bubble", going 8-0, and their hot streak has not cooled off.

In contrast, the Heat, paced by 18 points from Jimmy Butler, struggled from beyond the arc, sinking just 9-for-44 from three-point range (20.5 per cent).

While the Sun's All-Star Chris Paul was quiet on the scoring end with just five points, he was defensively sound, tallying three steals for a career total of 2,311, surpassing Maurice Cheeks for fifth on the NBA's steals list.

On the reserves stepping up, he said: "We have a team. Like a real team. We lean on each other and trust each other."

Elsewhere, Kyle Kuzma scored 24 points as the Lakers wrapped up their road trip by defeating the Charlotte Hornets 101-93.

Los Angeles bounced back from a loss to the New York Knicks a night earlier to finish with a 4-3 record on their travels.

Alex Caruso made key contributions in the last minute to tally 13 points and six assists off the Lakers' bench, while teammate Dennis Schroder posted 19 points.

The hosts were led by 19 points from Devonte' Graham.

REUTERS