San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
BOOKER SHINES BRIGHT AS SUNS DEFEAT SIXERS
Devin Booker lost plenty of games in his first five NBA seasons. That’s part of what makes these past few weeks even more sweet.
Booker scored 36 points, Chris Paul added 18 points and 10 assists and the rising Phoenix Suns beat the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 120-111 on Saturday for their fifth straight victory.
“It’s so nice, man,” Booker said. “We’re deep. I feel like we’re 15 deep. Everyone can play and everyone’s ready to go.”
The Suns have won eight of their past nine games and improved to 16-9. They got a big game from their bench against Philadelphia, especially from Dario Saric, who scored 15 points in his first game back after missing 13 straight.
Saric missed about a month because he was in the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocol and also dealt with a sore ankle.
“Now to be finally back, play with this group of guys who are really talented and positive minded, it’s just a pleasure,” Saric said.
Joel Embiid had 35 points on 12 of 23 shooting for the Sixers, who have lost two in a row but still hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference at 18-9. Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris each added 18 points.
The game was tied 53-all at halftime after a tight second quarter when there were nine lead changes and five ties. Booker took control in the third quarter, when he scored 16 points to give Phoenix an 86-81 lead going into the fourth.
Saric and Jae Crowder each hit 3pointers to open the fourth quarter and extend the Suns’ lead to 92-81. The closest the Sixers would get was 102-97 after Embiid’s bucket with 51⁄2 minutes remaining. The Suns had an 11-2 run which gave them a 113-99 lead with 3:15 left to close out the win.
The 76ers’ offense wasn’t great down the stretch but the real problem was defense. Phoenix shot 60.8 percent from the field and got 49 points from the bench.
“We know we’re not going to stop teams every possession, teams are going to score, but we’ve got to make it tough,” Simmons said.
Booker has scored 30-plus points in each of the last three games overall and has scored 30-plus in each of his last seven games against Philadelphia. That is the longest streak ever by a Suns player against a single opponent.
Nets 134, Warriors 117: Kevin Durant
Suns 120, 76ers 111
won his long-anticipated first trip back to the Bay Arena to play the Warriors team he helped capture two titles over three years, scoring 20 points. Durant finished 8 for 19 from the floor and 1 of 6 on 3s. Pal Stephen Curry didn’t have his best stroke either from deep, going 10 of 17 for 27 points and 2 for 9 from deep as coldshooting Golden State lost its third straight to the Nets and missed a chance at its first three-game winning streak all season.
Pacers 125, Hawks 113: Doug Mcdermott scored 26 points, Myles Turner had 19 points and 10 rebounds and visiting Indiana beat Atlanta for its second straight victory. Indiana scored 41 points in the final period and used a 27-7 run to take control. quarter. Aaron Holiday was the spark with the outcome on the line, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the fourth.
Knicks 121, Rockets 99: Julius Randle and rookie Immanuel Quickley each scored 22 points and host New York sent Houston to a seasonhigh fifth straight loss. Derrick Rose added 16 points for the Knicks, who had no problem in their first game after losing starting center Mitchell Robinson to a broken right hand Friday night in a victory at Washington.
Jazz 112, Heat 94: Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Rudy Gobert had 16 points, 12 rebounds and three of Utah’s seven blocked shots as the host Jazz were never in trouble.