Suns 117, Rockets 102: Eric Bledsoe scored a career-best 34 points and had eight rebounds and three steals as visiting Phoenix defeated Houston for its third straight win.

P.J. Tucker scored 19 points for the Suns, who moved 2 1/2 games behind the eighth-place Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference. Marcus Morris contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds and Markieff Morris added 17 points and six assists.

Donatas Motiejunas scored 18 points and Josh Smith added 17 for the Rockets, who fell 2 1/2 games behind the second-place Memphis Grizzlies in the West. James Harden scored 16 points on 5-of-19 shooting, Trevor Ariza had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Corey Brewer added 14 points.

Houston trailed by 15 points early in the final stanza and used a 14-4 burst to pull within 105-100 on Ariza’s 3-pointer with 5:31 remaining. Tucker hit a 3-pointer to push the Phoenix lead to eight with 3:02 left as part of a 12-0 surge as the Rockets went more than five minutes without scoring.

The Suns trailed by 12 in the second quarter before an 11-0 run got them back in the game and they overtook Houston to hold a 62-61 lead at the break. Tucker scored seven straight points to start another 11-0 run in the third as Phoenix overcame a four-point deficit to lead by seven and held a 99-86 lead entering the fourth quarter.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Houston was 10-of-34 from 3-point range with Harden missing seven of his eight attempts. … The Suns were 8-of-15 from 3-point range and held a 49-36 rebounding edge. … Rockets SG Jason Terry (hamstring) returned from a two-game absence and had five points in 21 minutes.