Ayton scores 26, Suns handle Kings
PHOENIX – Deandre Ayton had 26 points and 11 rebounds, Devin Booker added 23 points and the Phoenix Suns won their 10th straight home game by beating the Sacramento Kings 122-114 on Thursday night.
The Suns haven’t lost in their home arena for nearly a month, but struggled to put away the Kings for much of the night, taking a 95-94 lead into the fourth quarter. Sacramento took its first lead of the second half when Delon Wright made a layup to make it 9695.
The game remained close throughout the fourth, but the Suns slowly pushed ahead and Booker threw a long alley-oop pass to Ayton for a dunk with 4:38 left that made it 110-104.
Ayton muscled his way to another bucket a few possessions later to push the Phoenix up 112-104.
“We just had to gut it out,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “I was really happy for (Ayton) to be able to be the guy down the stretch, taking advantage of his size against their switches.”
It was another good game for Ayton, who has found his niche playing alongside the All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Booker. Ayton shot 10 of 11 from the field and made all six of his free throws. Paul finished with 13 points and 11 assists.
Paul said Ayton’s big moments in clutch situations are important as the Suns prepare for the first playoff run since 2010.
“I think it’s big for all of us,” Paul said. “These games build confidence and trust and that’s what it comes down to in the playoffs.”
The Suns improved to 4015 for the season, hitting 40 wins for the first time since 2014.
“I’m grateful for it,” Williams said. “But I can’t spend much time dwelling on it.”
The Kings have lost nine straight. Sacramento was led by De’Aaron Fox, who scored 27. Buddy Hield added 24 and Wright had 16 off the bench.
“I feel for the group,” Sacramento coach Luke Walton said. “They really fought. We played pretty darn hard tonight, gave everything we had. Unfortunately, we need to do the little things better.”