Suns never trail in steamrolling Spurs
Devin Booker scored 32 points before sitting out the fourth quarter and the Phoenix Suns never trailed in steamrolling the San Antonio Spurs 131-106 on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) to help their playoff positioning.
Kevin Durant added 25 points for Phoenix, which never trailed and led by as many as 32.
Victor Wembanyama had 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot in 21 minutes as San Antonio lost its third straight and eighth in 10 games.
Keldon Johnson had 14 points. Phoenix shot 59.6 percent in winning their eighth straight in San Antonio.
The Suns have won three straight to improve to 13 games above .500 for the first time this season.
The surge comes at an opportune time as Phoenix (42-29) is a half-game ahead of Dallas (41-29) for the sixth and final automatic playoff berth in the Western Conference. Phoenix has a rematch with San Antonio on Monday as the Spurs conclude a season-high eight-game homestand.
San Antonio has won just once during that stretch. The Spurs (1556) must win five of their last 11 games to avoid finishing with the worst record in franchise history — 20-62 in 1997.
Of San Antonio’s remaining opponents, only Utah, Memphis and Detroit are currently not in the playoffs or play-in tournament. Any chance the Spurs had of ending their skid diminished quickly.
San Antonio opened the game shooting 4 for 17 from the field and had four turnovers. To make matters worse, Booker had 12 points while shooting 5 for 9 from the field in the opening quarter.
Booker then opened the second half with consecutive 3-pointers as Phoenix took its biggest lead at the time at 70-47.
The Suns, which came in averaging 117 points per game, had six players score in double figures.
Bradley Beal and Bol Bol had 13 points each.