Booker, Durant lift Phoenix
Suns visit Mavericks Sunday; Randle helps Knicks win 8 in a row
CHICAGO — Devin Booker scored 35 points and matched his career high with six 3s, Kevin Durant added 20 points in his second game with Phoenix and the Suns beat the Chicago Bulls 125-104 on Friday night.
Josh Okogie scored 25 and made five 3-pointers, and the Suns withstood big efforts by Demar Derozan and Zach Lavine to win for the eighth time in 11 games. Phoenix regrouped after Chicago used a big second quarter to grab a four-point lead. The Suns outscored the Bulls 34-21 in the third and scored 10 straight midway through the fourth to bump their lead to 17.
Durant continued to make a seamless transition following the trade from Brooklyn and once again showed no lingering issues from a sprained right knee that sidelined him for seven weeks. The 34-year-old star took just 10 shots. He had nine rebounds and six assists, helping the Suns win their seventh in a row against Chicago.
Phoenix, which visits the Mavericks on Sunday, pulled two games in front of sixthplace Dallas in the Western Conference at fourth place.
Derozan led the Bulls with 31 points, and Lavine had 27.
Knicks 122, Heat 120: In Miami, Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian) scored 43 points, the last of them on a goahead 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left, and New York extended its winning streak to eight games.
Randle was 16 of 25 from the floor, including 8 of 13 from 3point range. Former Maverick Jalen Brunson scored 25 for New York. Jimmy Butler scored 33 points, and Tyler Herro added 29 for Miami.
Thunder 130, Jazz 103: In Oklahoma City, Aaron Wiggins scored 27 points, and the Thunder snapped a five-game losing streak. The Thunder hadn’t won since Feb. 15 — their final game before the All-star break. They never trailed in this one.
Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-alexander, an All-star who averages 31 points, missed his fourth straight game. He was out because of health and safety protocols and an abdominal strain. The Thunder made up for his absence with balance. Jalen Williams scored 20 points, Lu Dort had 19 and Josh Giddey added 18 points, 13 assists and six rebounds.
Nets 115, Celtics 105: In Boston, Mikal Bridges scored 38 points, and Brooklyn overcame a 28-point deficit to stun the Celtics. Part of the trade that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix, Bridges has reached 30 or more points in three of Brooklyn’s last six games. He also had 10 rebounds, playing nearly 43 minutes.
Fellow former Sun Cam Johnson added 20 points. Exmaverick Dorian Finneysmith finished with 17. It is the largest comeback by a Boston opponent since the Los Angeles Clippers also rallied from 28 down to beat Boston 123-112 at TD Garden on Feb. 9, 2019.
Hawks 129, Trail Blazers 111: In Atlanta, Dejounte Murray scored a career-high 41 points to help Atlanta overcome Damian Lillard’s 33 points and give new coach Quin Snyder his first win with the Hawks.
Magic 117, Hornets 106: In Charlotte, N.C., Paolo Banchero scored 31 points and finally got a couple of shots to drop from long range to help Orlando prevail. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft was 1 of 33 on 3-point attempts in February and started this month 0 for 2 before going 2 of 6 against the Hornets. It was his first game with multiple 3s since Jan. 30.
Magic lose Isaac for season: Jonathan Isaac’s comeback story has been sidelined again by another season-ending injury, this time a torn adductor muscle. Isaac had surgery on Friday to repair the muscle and will miss the remainder of the regular season, the Magic said. He felt discomfort on his left side Tuesday after practice, and an MRI on Wednesday showed the severity of the issue. He played in 11 games this season, after missing 21⁄2 years following a serious knee injury and other setbacks. And now, he faces another period of recovery and rehabilitation.