Suns stay unbeaten in bubble
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Devin Booker scored 35 points, and the Phoenix Suns rolled past the shorthanded Oklahoma City Thunder 128101 on Monday to improve to 60 in the restart and improve their playoff chances.
The Suns have surged in the West1 standings and entered the day 1 ⁄2 games behind eighthplace Memphis and a game behind ninthplace Portland for a spot in the playin series.
Oklahoma City was without four of its top five scorers: Shai GilgeousAlexander (calf bruise), Danilo Gallinari (ankle), Dennis Schroder (birth of child) and Steven Adams (left leg). Reserve center Nerlens Noel (ankle) also did not play.
Raptors 114, Bucks 106: Chris Boucher scored a careerhigh 25 and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Raptors in a meeting of the top teams in the East. Both teams were missing key players. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo was out after oral surgery and it’s uncertain if he will play in the team’s final two seeding games Tuesday and Thursday. For Toronto, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and Fred Van Vleet all sat out with injuries.
Mavericks 122, Jazz 114: The shorthanded Mavericks rallied from a 22point deficit in the second half. Tim Hardaway Jr. led Dallas with 27 points and Seth Curry added 22. It was the biggest comeback for the Mavericks since February 2016 and the win means Dallas still has a slim shot at earning the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Dallas was without Luka Doncic and Kristaps
Porzingis, who rested nagging injuries. Heat 114, Pacers 92: Jimmy Butler returned from a foot injury and scored 19 points to help Miami snap a twogame slide. Derrick Jones scored 18 off the Miami bench and Tyler Herro added 17. The Heat moved a game ahead of Indiana in the race for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Lakers 124, Nuggets 121: Kyle Kuzma swished the gamewinning 3pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining to help Los Angeles snap a threegame losing streak. LeBron James scored 29 points, Anthony Davis scored 27 and Kuzma had 25. The Nuggets got doubledigit contributions from eight different players. Denver is third in the West, a game and a half behind the Los Angeles Clippers.