SALT LAKE CITY - Running isnt just an offensive cornerstone for the Phoenix Suns. It is also a matter of survival.The Suns often resort to small ball tactics to neutralize advantages taller teams have around the basket. Its one reason why Phoenix went small early and often against the Utah Jazz in the NBA preseason finale for both teams.We got to play scrappy, Suns guard Eric Bledsoe said. Were so small, we got to play scrappy and get out on the break. Too many teams are going to beat our numbers in the post. We just got to play scrappy.Scrappy play won the day for Phoenix. Isaiah Thomas scored 19 points off the bench and Goran Dragic added 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting to help the Suns close out the NBA preseason with a 105-100 victory over the Jazz on Friday night.Markieff Morris added 17 points for Phoenix (5-2), helping the Suns rally from a double-digit first half deficit to get the win. Gordon Hayward had 24 points and Alec Burks added 20 for the Jazz (5-3).Phoenix and Utah traded baskets throughout much of the third and fourth quarters. The Suns finally took a 97-91 lead with 2:47 left after Dragic hit a 3-pointer to end an 11-2 run.Utah cut it to a one-possession game when Hayward converted a 3-point play to make it 99-96 game with 51.7 seconds left. But Trey Burke missed a basket after a Morris turnover and Eric Bledsoe and Thomas each sank a pair of free throws to ice the game in the final seconds.The Jazz struggled in transition and it cost them down the stretch. Phoenix had a 20-8 edge in fast break points.Defensively, the Suns forced 21 turnovers and scored 22 points off Utahs miscues. They held the Jazz to 41.8 per cent (33-of-79) shooting from the field.Their physicality bothered us, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. There was a point where we needed to run our offence with more force, if that makes sense. Get through and make more passes.Utah took control early in the first quarter with some timely scoring from Enes Kanter. Kanter hit two free throws and scored three baskets to spark an 11-1 run, putting the Jazz up 17-7 five minutes into the quarter.Phoenix cut into the lead once Kanter and the Jazz cooled down. Thomas and Gerald Green scored 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions late in the quarter to cut Utahs lead to 31-28.Utah rebuilt a double digit lead late in the second quarter when Hayward scored a three-pointer and a jumper on back-to-back possessions to put the Jazz ahead 49-37.We had turnovers early, Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. We didnt play any defence in the first quarter. We just came out and exchanged baskets. Once we got after it a bit better, we forced some turnovers and was able to run. Were not a good enough team to be doing that for short stretches and get behind. We got to try and get after it all the time.Utahs second quarter cushion didnt last long. The Jazz shot just 5-of-17 (29.4 per cent) from the field during the quarter - opening the door for Phoenix to get back in the game.Utah scored one basket over a five minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters. Phoenix took advantage of the drought, scoring easily in transition.The Suns used a 10-2 run before halftime to cut Utahs lead to four and then opened the second half with three unanswered baskets. Morris scored a driving layup to finish the rally and give the Suns a 53-51 lead. It marked Phoenixs first lead since scoring the games first basket.Utah finally got going when Trey Burke drained a long jumper to ignite an 11-0 Jazz run. By the time Hayward ended the spurt with another jumper, the Jazz were back in front 62-55.TIP-INSJazz: Trevor Booker is becoming more adventurous on the perimeter. Against the Suns, he made his third 3-pointer of the preseason. This comes after Booker had just shot 1-for-10 from distance in his first four NBA seasons before signing with the Jazz. Booker plans on making 3-pointers a bigger part of his regular season repertoire too. I feel pretty confident right now, Booker said. I just got to keep working on it. Just repetitions. The more reps, the more comfortable I get.Suns: Phoenix rotated three point guards throughout the game with great success. Bledsoe, Dragic and Thomas all played at least 28 minutes - more than any other Suns player who saw action. Hornacek could continue to dabble with three point guard lineups in the regular season. It has drawbacks, but it also works out well at times. Its playing roulette there, Hornacek said. You never know whats going to happen. Markieff has to play big as a five, which is tough sometimes. But he did a great job of that. Isaiah was playing well. Goran was playing well. Eric was playing well. I was glad to get them out there.Burke and Gobert extendedUtah announced after the game that the team had picked up options for both Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert for the 2015-16 season. Both players are entering their second NBA seasons. Burke averaged 12.8 points, 5.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds as a rookie. Gobert posted averages of 2.3 points and 3.4 rebounds.Success in Salt LakePhoenix has won five of its last nine regular season games played in Utah. The Suns will get a chance to improve on that record when they return to the Beehive State on November 1.UP NEXTPhoenix hosts the Los Angeles Lakers in the regular-season opener Oct. 29.Utah hosts Houston in the regular-season opener Oct. 29. Chiefs Jerseys . -- Cole De Vries had a couple of key strikeouts during what could have been the inning that doomed him to defeat against the Kansas City Royals, allowing him to escape further damage and keep the game tied up. Armani Watts Jersey . 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Manningham made 42 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown in 12 games and 10 starts last season before injuring his left knee in a loss at Seattle Dec.INDIANAPOLIS -- No. 8 Michigan ended 15 years of Big Ten tournament frustration Saturday. Theres still some work to do before it can really celebrate. After blowing a 12-point second-half lead against its most bitter rival, Michigan closed the game with a 7-1 run and survived a potential tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds for its first tourney win over No. 24 Ohio State, 72-69. "We werent thinking about winning the Big Ten Conference championship, the tournament," Big Ten player of the year Nik Stauskas said. "We were thinking about just beating Ohio State. This is a rivalry game." For the Big Ten regular-season champs, it was a big moment. Michigan (25-7) hadnt won a semifinal game since 1998, when it won the inaugural tourney title only to vacate it because of NCAA rules violations. Since then, the Wolverines hadnt even won two straight games in the league tourney and had lost all six times it played the dreaded Buckeyes in Indianapolis or Chicago. Not this time. The top-seeded Wolverines started the game with an offensive flurry and ended it with a stout defensive stretch that ended with Buckeyes guard Aaron Craft losing control of the ball as he tried a 3-pointer that could have forced overtime. Instead, the Wolverines came up with the loose ball to eliminate the conferences defending tourney champion. Stauskas finished with 18 points. Ohio native Caris LeVert had 17 points and seven rebounds and Glenn Robinson III wound up with 11 points, including two free throws that gave Michigan the lead for good with 2:55 to play. The Wolverines won their seventh straight in large part because they were 12 of 23 on 3-pointers against the Big Tens top-rated 3-point defence and didnt allow a basket over the final four minutes. The only thing sweeter than beating the Buckeyes would be winning Sundays title game against No. 22 Michigan State. The Wolverines won both games against the third-seeded Spartans this season. Michigan State advanced with an 85-73 win over second-seeded Wisconsin in the second semifinal. "Those are the three best defensive teams in our league. Theyre just really difficult to score points on," coach John Beilein said, referring to thee Badgers, Buckeyes and Spartans.dddddddddddd. But getting to Sunday wasnt easy, either. Michigan blew a 13-point lead in Fridays quarterfinal victory, surviving a scare from ninth-seeded Illinois when Jordan Morgans layup rolled in with 7.9 seconds to go and Illinois guard Tracy Abrams missed a driving layup at the buzzer. It was more of the same Saturday. Michigan led by as much as 16 in the first half and 12 in the second and still needed another late miscue to seal the win. Ohio State (25-9) was led by LaQuinton Ross with 19 points and Shannon Scott with 18, nearly pulling off a second stunning comeback in two days. After digging out of an 18-point deficit to beat Nebraska in Fridays quarterfinals, the Buckeyes wound up losing for only the third time in 10 games. "I feel like as a team when our heads underwater, we start fighting more," Scott said. "We started doing that again today." Ohio State, which struggled to open both halves, just couldnt finish this one off. Michigan opened the game with three straight 3s and led 15-2 after its opening flurry. The Buckeyes clawed back late in the half, getting within 41-37. But Ohio State gave up three more 3s to open the second half, allowing the Spartans to push the lead to 54-42 with 16:02 left. Again the Buckeyes rallied, using a 10-2 spurt that ended with Sam Thompsons alley-oop dunk, giving Ohio State its first lead at 61-60. Thats when last years national runner-up buckled down defensively. Michigan cut the Ohio State lead to 68-67 on an 18-foot jumper from Stauskas and regained the lead when Robinson made the two free throws. The Buckeyes couldnt get anything to go over the final four minutes, missing five straight shots and three of four free throws before Craft said the ball slipped out of his hands at the end. "I feel so fortunate right now," Beilein said. "You look at so many of our games down the stretch here, theyve ended just like this and the ball keeps bouncing our way. You only can have that type of luck if you have guys like these guys sitting next to me. They make enough smart plays to keep you in the game, and some games the ball will just bounce your way." White NFL Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '