Suns cruise, stay perfect at restart
Devin Booker scored 35 points, and the Suns rolled past the short-handed Thunder 128-101 on Monday to improve to 6-0 in the restart at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and improve their playoff chances.
The Suns have surged in the Western Conference standings. They entered the day just 11⁄2 games behind the eighth-place Grizzlies and a game behind the ninth-place Trail Blazers in the race to qualify for a spot in the play-in series.
Suns center Deandre Ayton sat out the first quarter because he missed his coronavirus test Sunday. He tested negative Monday and was cleared. With Ayton out, the Thunder led 37-23 at the end of the first. Ayton entered at the start of the second quarter, and the Suns dominated the rest of the way. He finished with 10 points and six rebounds in just over 17 minutes.
The Thunder were without four of their top five scorers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (right calf bruise), Danilo Gallinari (left ankle), Dennis Schroder (birth of child) and Steven Adams (bruised left leg) sat out. Reserve center Nerlens Noel (right ankle; sprain) also didn’t play.
Rookie Darius Bazley had 22 points and 10 boards for the Thunder.
The Suns rallied from 15 points down in the second quarter to take a 65-64 lead at halftime. They opened the second half on an 11-2 run and forced the Thunder to call a timeout. Booker drained a shot from near halfcourt as the shot clock wound down to give the Suns an 88-75 lead.
Short-handed Mavs rally: The short-handed Mavericks rallied from a 22-point deficit in the second half to stun the Jazz 122-114 at Disney.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Mavs with 27 points and Seth Curry added 22. It was the biggest comeback for the Mavs since February 2016 and the win means they still have a slim shot at earning the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The Mavs won despite playing without stars Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, who were both resting because of nagging injuries.
Doncic is dealing with a right ankle injury while Porzingis has an injured left knee.
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell didn’t play due to a minor injury.
Layups: All-Star C Joel Embiid will miss the 76ers’ game against the Suns on Tuesday because of a left ankle injury that he suffered over the weekend. ESPN reported that the 76ers don’t think the injury is serious . ... Reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out the Bucks’ 114-106 loss to the Raptors after having oral surgery. The Raptors sat Kyle Lowry (back), Serge Ibaka (knee) and Fred VanVleet (knee) . ... Jimmy Butler returned from a foot injury and scored 19 points, Derrick Jones scored 18 off the bench and the Heat kept T.J. Warren largely in check on the way to a 114-92 win over the Pacers. The Heat moved a game ahead of the Pacers in the race for the No. 4 seed in the East.