NBA: Devin Booker sparks late surge as Suns edge Rockets

Devin Booker scored a game-high 24 points, including nine consecutive points late in the fourth quarter, as the host Phoenix Suns fended off the Houston Rockets 102-99 on Saturday.

Booker snapped a 93-93 tie with a 17-footer with 4:24 left before adding a step-back jumper, a 3-pointer, and a driving layup that gave the Suns a 102-95 lead with 2:30 remaining.

Kevin Durant drilled a 3-pointer that sliced the deficit to 102-99, but his game-tying attempt from beyond the arc with 10.6 seconds remaining was short and kept the Rockets from completing a comeback from a 19-point, first-half deficit.

Durant led the Rockets with 21 points and 10 rebounds, but he shot just 5-for-14 from the floor and misfired on 6 of 7 from 3-point range. Amen Thompson added 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks while Fred VanVleet tallied 16 points. Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun scored 15 apiece for the Rockets, who shot just 38.7% from the field, including 10 of 35 from behind the arc.

Jalen Green recorded 16 points and six assists for the Suns. Miles Bridges posted a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) and a team-high seven assists. Dillon Brooks scored 11.

Booker, Brooks and Collin Gillespie hit 3-pointers in the third quarter that helped the Suns erase a six-point deficit in that period and gave the hosts a 76-75 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Phoenix snapped an eight-game losing skid to Houston.

The Suns surged to an early double-digit lead behind Green, who started 4-for-4 for eight first-quarter points. Brooks' 3-pointer gave Phoenix a 17-11 lead at the 5:00 mark, and the Suns extended that advantage to 28-18 on Bridges' 16-footer with just under two minutes left.

Phoenix made its final eight shots and shot 16 of 21 in the first quarter. The Rockets, meanwhile, conceded 12 points on six turnovers in the period and, when Luke Kennard (11 points) nailed three 3-pointers off the bench to bridge the opening two frames, the Suns had a 44-25 lead.

But the Rockets roared back behind VanVleet, who scored 10 points in the second quarter. Houston closed the first half with a 20-2 surge, and VanVleet tied it at 47-47 on a 19-footer with 57.1 seconds left in the half.

After shooting 76.2% in the first period, the Suns missed 15 of 19 shots and committed eight turnovers in the second.

-Field Level Media/Reuters