CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Devin Booker led a balanced Phoenix attack with 21 points and 11 assists as the Suns beat the Charlotte Hornets 107-96 Friday night for their fourth victory in six games.
Grayson Allen and Bradley Beal each scored 15 points, and Jusuf Nurkic had 13 points and 21 rebounds for the Suns (39-28), who rebounded from a lopsided 127-112 loss to the top-ranked Boston Celtics on Thursday night. .
Vasa Micic continued his career-high 25-point effort Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies with 21 points to lead Charlotte. Miles Bridges added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets.
The Suns entered the game in seventh place in the heavily loaded Western Conference standings and fought to avoid having to fight their way into the playoffs via the play-in tournament.
Only two games separated fifth-place New Orleans and ninth-place Dallas heading into Friday night’s games.
Phoenix led by 25 points early in the fourth quarter, but the Hornets quickly cut the lead to 10 when Brandon Miller pushed Durant out of the way with his shoulder, causing the 2014 league MVP to stumble backwards and knock down a 3 point with six minutes left. remaining.
But Durant responded with a baseline pull-up jumper and Nurkic grabbed an offensive rebound and threw down a two-handed dunk to extend the lead to 16 points and start sending the fans toward the exits.
The Suns overcame a 13-0 run against the Hornets in the first quarter to take a 54-45 lead going into the break. Eric Gorden came off the bench to score 11 points and finished with 14, including four 3-pointers.
Booker had 14 points in the third quarter as Phoenix took a big lead heading into the final period.
FOLLOWING
Suns: At Milwaukee on Sunday.
Hornets: Open four-game trip to Philadelphia on Saturday.
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