Devin Booker scored 33 points on Friday as the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Utah Jazz 111-105.
Deandre Ayton sealed the victory off a pass from Chris Paul with 18.4 seconds remaining.
Ayton had 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Paul had 16 points and 16 assists to help the Suns extend their franchise record with their 64th victory.
Photo: Rob Gray-USA TODAY
“We read the game. They try to take this away? Boom, we hit this guy,” Paul said. “They took Book away and [Ayton] is open. They helped off of Mikal [Bridges] and we hit him. We weren’t surprised.”
Bridges added 18 points, capping a 14-0 Phoenix run in the fourth quarter to tie it at 98.
His dunk and three-point play with 46 seconds remaining gave the Suns a 107-102 lead.
“I didn’t think we had a great team spirit in the third,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “Then, for whatever reason, I saw this steadiness in our huddle. We call it the wear-down effect, where if we can just stay with it, trust each other and keep playing the right way, we can live with the results.”
The Jazz did not score a field goal — nine straight misses — for almost 7 minutes in the fourth quarter.
“We had six assists in the second half,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said. “The ball stopped moving. We gave up something. When you don’t have efficient possessions offensively, it becomes much more difficult for us to defend.”
The Suns long ago wrapped up the top seed in the NBA and showed why they look like the team to beat, finishing their regular-season away calendar with a franchise-record 32 road wins.
They are the first NBA team since the 1969-1970 New York Knicks to finish with a better road winning percentage than every other team’s home winning percentage.
“We have some villains on this team,” Bridges said. “They love breaking the hearts of the fans” on the road.
Their final regular-season game is at home against the Sacramento Kings today.
The Jazz were in the fifth spot in the Western Conference after Friday’s game, but might fall to sixth on the final night of the season tomorrow.
LAKERS 120, THUNDER 101
Stanley Johnson scored 21 points as Los Angeles snapped an eight-game losing streak with victory over Oklahoma City.
Wenyen Gabriel added 16 points as the Lakers wrapped up the home portion of their dismal season with their first win since March 21, despite playing without LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
The star trio led the cheers from the bench as the underachieving squad finally got something new to celebrate.
Los Angeles were eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday, absorbing the final blow in one of the most embarrassing seasons in recent NBA history.
“There’s a lot of joy in basketball that hasn’t been there this year because of what we were competing for and how we were falling short,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “It was just good to enjoy a W.”
PISTONS 101, BUCKS 131
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points as Milwaukee defeated Detroit to clinch at least the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
RAPTORS 117, ROCKETS 115
Gary Trent Jr sank a floater with 4.8 seconds left as Toronto erased a 24-point deficit to defeat visiting Houston, securing at worst the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
MAVERICKS 128, TRAIL BLAZERS 78
Luka Doncic poured in 39 points in just 30 minutes as Dallas kept their hopes alive of finishing third in the Western Conference with a shellacking of visiting Portland.
Additional reporting by Reuters
In other games on Friday, it was:
‧ Bulls 117, Hornets 133
‧ Heat 113, Hawks 109
‧ Nets 118, Cavaliers 107
‧ Wizards 92, Knicks 114
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