Suns avenge loss to Rockets with 9th home win in row
Frank Vogel said the Phoenix Suns worked on their fourth-quarter offense during practice this week.
Looks like they could spend a little more time on it after Thursday’s 110-105 win over the Houston Rockets before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at Footprint Center.
The Suns shot 5-of-23 in the fourth, going 2-of-7 on 3s and committed nine fouls in the quarter, all of which factored in being outscored, 30-24 in the game’s final 12 minutes. Houston went 9-of-10 from the line in the fourth, but it was almost as bad as the Suns from the field in the quarter, shooting 9-of-28 overall, 3of-11 with 3s.
With the win, Phoenix (35-24) avenged last week’s loss in Houston (25-34) in what has become a chippy matchup. Things could get even chippier Saturday when Phoenix faces Houston again for the third time in four games.
Here are takeaways from Thursday’s game as the Suns won their ninth straight home game despite shooting 40.4% from the field.
Devin Booker scored a game-high 35 points in leading Phoenix to a second straight win, Kevin Durant contributed 24 points and Jusuf Nurkic added a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Booker wasn’t playing around
Playing with an extra edge, Booker exploded for a 20-point first quarter in outscoring the Rockets by himself as the Suns led 33-17 after one. Shooting 8of-10 from the field in the first, Booker went 4-of-4 from 3.
The Suns (35-24) led by as many as 18 points in the first as Booker finished the night with a game-high 35 points on 13of-27 shooting, hitting 6-of-10 from 3.
Phoenix had three days in between Sunday’s afternoon home win over the Lakers and Thursday’s matchup against the Rockets.
That gave Booker an opportunity to rest up, but also sharpen up.
Booker shot 3-of-14 from 3 in Phoenix’s first three games after the NBA AllStar break. He shot 44.4% from the field (28-of-63) in those games.
The four-time All-Star had a rather busy All-Star weekend. Between the launch of his Book 1 signature shoes to all the weekend festivities in
Indianapolis, Booker enjoyed his time with family and friends.
Spent some time in Cabo after that, but with the Suns having three games in four days coming out of the break, Booker probably didn’t rest too much.
Phoenix needed that early Booker burst as Houston shrunk Phoenix’s biggest lead of 21 to six with under two minutes remaining before winning by just five.
Take good and the bad with Nurkic
He’s not going to finish every shot inside. Nurkic shot 4-of-10 from the field.
Can be turnover prone as was the case Thursday night in committing seven, one shy of tying his career high.
Can be plagued with foul trouble and come up short from the line. Nurkic fouled out and finished 8-of-16 on free throws as the Rockets fouled him on purpose in the fourth.
That’s the bad side of Nurkic’s night, but there’s two sides to every coin.
He can control the boards. Nurkic followed up his 22-rebound effort in
Sunday’s win against the Lakers, which was one shy of tying a career high, with 13 Thursday.
Nurkic can frustrate an opponent. He had Alperen Sengun out of his game by being physical and led to the talented Rockets big boiling over at an official and being ejected after fouling out in the fourth.
He can be a presence defensively. His three blocks were a bonus Thursday, but what Nurkic also can do is come to the defense of a teammate.
The 7-footer has no problems sticking his nose into a situation to have a teammate’s back.
So when Cam Whitmore and Booker got into it in the second half, Nurkic not only made his presence known, but then denied Whitmore in the paint and got the crowd going.
Nurkic has turned around fan base that wasn’t feeling him coming to Phoenix in a three-team trade that sent Deandre Ayton to Portland. But fans have his back through the good and bad.
The Suns as a team are going to have to live with both from the big fella in trying to win a championship.
Suns couldn’t get away from Rockets
Houston has some young bucks who can do work, but two of them struggled Thursday night in Jabari Smith Jr. and Sengun. They combined for 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting and 19 rebounds with Smith getting 16 boards after they tallied 39 points on 12-of-33 shooting and 28 rebounds.
Jalen Green kept the Rockets in the game with a team-high 34 points, but the key was veteran point guard Fred VanVleet. He posted 21 points, five assists and got to the line down the stretch to make things very interesting.
The Rockets are young, athletic and just kept coming under new coach Ime Udoka. They just need more time together and a add piece or two. The Suns have had trouble with point guards like VanVleet with one being Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson, who dropped a careerhigh 50 this season in Phoenix.
Brunson is a better player, but VanVleet controls the game in terms of pace. The Suns have to do a better job on those type of point guards.