Devin Booker’s 33 points lead Suns past Jazz

Devin Booker scored 33 points while Chris Paul added 27 points and 14 assists to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 115-109 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night, January 24.

Paul poured in 15 points in the fourth quarter as Phoenix came back from a five-point deficit early in the period. He also had nine rebounds in the game plus an uncharacteristic seven turnovers.

Bismack Biyombo chipped in 16 points and 13 rebounds off the Phoenix bench. Cameron Johnson finished with 20 points as the Suns won their seventh straight game.

Jordan Clarkson scored 22 points to lead the Jazz, who lost for the eighth time in their past 10 games. Utah’s Trent Forrest added a career-high 17 points, the first time in his 67 career NBA games that he scored in double figures.

Eric Paschall and Danuel House Jr finished with 14 points apiece for the Jazz. Rudy Gay and Jared Butler each chipped in 13 points, and Hassan Whiteside logged 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Utah faced Phoenix short-handed. Donovan Mitchell missed his fourth straight game after suffering a concussion a week earlier. Additionally, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale were sidelined with various ailments.

The Suns were also without several key rotation players, including Deandre Ayton, Cameron Payne and Jae Crowder.

The Suns jumped on the Jazz quickly and led by as many as 13 points before halftime. Phoenix built up a 48-35 lead midway through the second quarter after JaVale McGee scored on a second-chance hook shot.

Utah erased the deficit and took its first lead at 56-55 on a finger roll layup from House with 1:10 left in the first half. His basket capped a 15-4 run.

A back-and-forth third quarter ended in favor of the Jazz. After Landry Shamet buried a 3-pointer to put Phoenix up 85-81, Utah took the lead at quarter’s end on back-to-back treys from Elijah Hughes and Butler. The baskets sparked a 10-1 run that gave the Jazz a 91-86 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Paul fueled a 20-5 run, scoring five baskets and assisting two others, that put the Suns back in front 111-100 with 3:23 remaining. – Rappler.com