Durant, Suns take off early in rout of Jazz

Kevin Durant recorded 26 points and 7 assists in three quarters to help the Phoenix Suns trounce the visiting Utah Jazz, 126-104, on Saturday night, October 28 (Sunday, October 29, Manila time).

Eric Gordon scored all 21 of his points in the first half as the Suns defeated Utah for the 10th time in the past 12 meetings. Grayson Allen scored 14 of his 17 points in the third quarter for Phoenix, which has won two of its first three games.

The Suns led by as many as 33 points despite playing without Devin Booker (ankle) for the second straight game and Bradley Beal (back) for the third consecutive time.

Lauri Markkanen made five three-pointers for the second straight game while scoring 19 points for the Jazz, who have lost two of their first three games.

The Jazz loss came just a day after Jordan Clarkson knocked in a game-winning triple against the star-studded Clippers cast of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook.

Collin Sexton scored 14 points, Simone Fontecchio had 13, and Keyonte George added 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists for Utah. John Collins registered 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who connected on 44% of their shots and made 12-of-37 from behind the arc.

Jordan Goodwin notched 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists for Phoenix. Drew Eubanks also had 12 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists for the Suns, who shot 52.9% from the field and were 10-of-37 from three-point range.

The Suns shot 92.9% (26-of-28) from the free throw line. The Jazz were 12-of-14 for 85.7%.

Gordon was 9-of-12 shooting in the first half and Durant had 14 points as the Suns led 66-50 at the break. Markkanen had 12 in the half for Utah.

Phoenix scored the final 7 points of the first half and the initial 11 of the third quarter to build a 27-point advantage. Allen capped the 18 consecutive points with a catch-and-shoot trey to make it 77-50 with 8:53 left in the period.

Allen’s dunk stretched the advantage to 30 for the first time at 85-55 with 7:10 remaining in the quarter. Durant scored 12 points in the period.

The Suns led 106-78 entering the final stanza and continued to hold a big edge as both teams cleared the benches. – Rappler.com