Suns extend winning streak to 16, beating Nets
NEW YORK » Devin Booker scored 30 points, Chris Paul had 22 and the Phoenix Suns extended their winning streak to 16 games with a 113-107 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
Playing for the second straight night to end a four-game trip, Phoenix never trailed and led by as much as 22 while moving within a victory of matching the longest winning streak in franchise history.
The Suns will try to do that Tuesday night at home against the Golden State Warriors (17-2) in a matchup of the top two teams in the NBA.
Phoenix improved to 17-3, its best record through 20 games since having the same mark in 2004-05. The Western Conference champions haven’t lost in a month since Sacramento dropped them to 1-3.
Paul added eight rebounds and five assists, becoming the first player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points, 10,000 assists and 5,000 rebounds.
Villanova’s Mikal Bridges had 13 points and a career-high seven steals for the Suns. They won 17 straight games during the 200607 season, and also won 15 in a row earlier that season.
Kevin Durant had 39 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Nets. They had their four-game win streak snapped.
James Harden carved out a sloppy tripledouble in the Nets’ first game since Thanksgiving, with 14 assists, 13 rebounds and 12 points. But he shot 4 for 15 from the field, missing all six 3-pointers and committed seven turnovers.
KNICKS 99, HAWKS 90 » Alec Burks scored 23 points, Evan Fournier added 20 and New York snapped Atlanta’s seven-game winning streak.
Burks, starting with Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose nursing injuries, hit three of his four 3s and scored 15 points in the third quarter.
Trae Young had 33 points for Atlanta. Clint Capela had 16 points and 21 rebounds. HEAT 107, BULLS 104 » Villanova’s Kyle Lowry scored 19 points, Jimmy Butler added 18 and
Miami beat Chicago.
Gabe Vincent made four three-pointers and had 20 off the bench, and Bam Adebayo added nine points, six assists, and seven rebounds.
The Heat won without Tyler Herro. Aaveraging 22.2 points over the past 10 games, he sat out because of illness. Before the game, coach Erik Spoelstra said Herro was “under the weather,” and would be a game-time decision.
DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 28 points, and Alex Caruso had 22.
Vincent’s fourth 3-pointer put Miami up 92-87 with 5:05 left. After the Bulls cut it to three, Lowry answered with a 3 to give the Heat a 95-89 lead and Max Strus extended the lead to 98-91 when he was fouled by Nikola Vucevic on a 3-point attempt.