Game Recap: Suns survive poor second half showing, beat Rockets 110-105

THE Phoenix Sunsafter three nights off, continued his stay at home with a match against the Houston Rockets. Looking to defend last week’s loss, the Suns beat the Rockets

Three days off for the Phoenix Suns is a long time. Around this time, Bradley Beal had an opportunity to heal his hamstring. Unfortunately, he would miss yet another game due to his injury. Eric Gordon and Nassir Little joined him on the injured list. Royce O’Neale would get the nod to start in his absence.

Devin Booker scored 35 points, including 20 in an electric first quarter. Durant added 22 points on a scoreless night.

The Suns shot 48.9% in the first half and 43.5% from three. The second half was a different story. Sloppy and disconcerted, the team shot 31 percent in the second half and 21.4 percent from deep. Phoenix went 25 of 37 from the line (67.8%).

Jalen Green finished with 34 points and Alpren Sengun with 8 points. He fouled out and was then hit with double techs for challenging the call. Fred VanVleet added 21 points and 5 assists.

The win brings the Suns to 35-24 on the season and keeps them in fifth place in the Western Conference. This is the ninth consecutive home victory for Phoenix.

Game flow

First half

The first few minutes of the game were a mano-y-mano battle between Devin Booker – whose latest Book 1 came out today and sold out pretty quickly – and speedster Jalen Green. Even though they didn’t watch each other, they took turns scoring. Booker had 9 of the Suns’ first 26 while Green had 8 of the Rockets’ first 12.

First off the bench for Frank Vogel was Bol Bol. You may remember that he had 25 points and 14 rebounds against the Rockets just a week ago. It didn’t take long for Bol to make an impact, converting a transition layup off the outstretched arm of Alpren Sengun.

Booker continued his white-hot shooting as he knocked down shot after shot. Jumpers, left-handed runners and triples; Everything was working for Book who scored 8 out of 10 during the quarter. He led all scorers with 20 points in the first, including 4 of 4 from beyond the arc.

Phoenix went on a 16-0 run in Game 1 behind Booker’s explosion. The Rockets scored with 7:59 left in the quarter and didn’t score again until Jabari Smith, Jr. made a free throw with 43.3 seconds left. The Suns led 33-17 after that one.

Phoenix struggled to put together strong halves. When an offensive explosion occurs in the first, they are unable to step on the opponent’s throat. The same was true Thursday night as they allowed the Rockets to score 36 points in the second quarter.

Bol Bol was assessed his second foul to open the second and a Suns turnover resulted in a fast break bucket for the Rockets as they quickly opened the period. Kevin Durant responded for Phoenix, however, scoring 5 quick points and assisting Drew Eubanks for a high percentage dunk.

Jalen Green was feeling it in the first half, behaving like a one-man show. He made 5 of his first 6 three-pointers. He scored 21 of their 36 points. His speed led to an impressive dunk off a Durant turnover.

Royce O’Neale had a rough start to his shooting, missing his first five shots and four three-pointers. However, his effectiveness on the defensive end shone through as he clogged passing lanes and challenged Rocket shooters with his closeouts. It’s nice to see effort on this side of the field.

A 7-0 Houston run cut the gap to a 10-point Phoenix lead midway through the quarter as players not named “Green” began to contribute. Fred VanVleet and Cam Whitmore came to life.

Devin Booker finished the half with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Durant had 10 on 3-of-9 shooting and Jalen Green had 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Rolls Royce was 1 of 8 from the field but had 6 assists assists and 4 rebounds.

At halftime, the Suns led by 11 points, 64-53.

Second part

The Suns opened the third on an 11-4 run to establish some order, doing so inside as Sengun picked up his fourth foul. Houston came out of the half playing ultra-aggressive and physical. And they were called for that.

The Suns were shooting free throws with 5:05 left in the third after Dillon Brook’s first foul. Phoenix responded with physicality itself and the Rockets shot free throws with 4:58 left. It was the third on both sides of the ball. Fouls and turnovers.

Both teams scored 22 points in the third. The teams combined for 2 of 18 shooting from deep, 11 fouls, 9 turnovers and 35.7% shooting. Phoenix made 6 of those turnovers, but that only led to 4 Rocket points.

Sun up 86-75 after three hours.

It took the Suns until 9:33 to score in the fourth. Tell me if you have already read this book. Luckily it was the Rockets, so they only allowed 4 points despite being out cold to open the period.

Things got spicy with 6:41 left because, after Devin Booker made a three-pointer, he and Cam Whitmore started to go inside. Booker seemed to be talking stupid things and the rookie didn’t take kindly to it. A stampede ensues. Booker was assessed a personal foul and Book and Whitmore received technical points.

On the next possession, Nurkic blocked Whitemore. Twice. He then locked him in for a jump ball. After winning the jump shot, Nurk fought for an offensive rebound and got a trip to the line on an and-1. Like most of the Suns tonight, he missed the free throw. One of the reasons the Rockets were in the game was, at that point, 15 of 23 shooting from the line (65.2%). Houston was 21 of 23 (91.3%).

Alpren Sengun was hit by his sixth foul, which he did not appreciate. He was given two technical fouls after one foul. A foul and an expulsion?

Houston launched a hack-a-Nurkic strategy as he had a rough night at the line. Former Sun Jock Landale, who started playoff games for Phoenix a season ago, was now there to hack Nurk. And it worked. Nurkic missed two consecutive free throws before deciding to stop the tactic himself: he committed his sixth foul. He finished the evening with 16 points and 13 rebounds. And 8 out of 16 on the line.

Houston cut the Suns’ lead to 6 points with 2:22 left. The Suns, however, held on, despite dominating the quarter, 30-24.

Following

The Suns face these same Rockets on Saturday night in downtown Phoenix. We’ll see you then!