THE Phoenix Suns look to extend their on-court winning streak to 10 matches when they close out a two-game set against the Houston Rockets Saturday evening.
Phoenix posted a 110-105 victory over the Rockets on Thursday in a tough affair that included a heated confrontation between Suns star Devin Booker and Houston rookie Cam Whitmore.
Whitmore, 19, initiated some violent shoving and words were exchanged before the potential skirmish was broken up.
The atmosphere could therefore heat up when the teams meet for the third time in nine days. The Rockets notched a 114-110 victory in Houston on February 23.
“The kid did some BS in Houston too, if you remember,” Suns center Jusuf Nurkic said. “So they want to play this absurd basketball.
“I understand they are young, they have been motivated, they have a good coach now (in Ime Udoka), and I think they have a great setup for the future, but we don’t want to play that (a nonsense) basketball.”
Booker, who scored 20 of his 35 points in the first quarter on Thursday, also pointed to the situation that started with the recent game in Houston. He tried to downplay what happened Thursday by saying it was just a young player trying to mix it up.
“I think it’s always fun to step it up a little bit and get ultra-competitive,” Booker said. “That’s what this sport is about, and I feel like we’re moving away from it as a whole. Nothing personal, it’s just competition.”
Kevin Durant added 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists as Phoenix won its second straight game and ninth in its last 13 games. Nurkic had 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, and Royce O’Neale contributed 11 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals for the Suns.
Jalen Green had a high-scoring game for the Rockets, making a game-high seven 3-pointers while scoring 34 points.
“The shot was falling,” Green said after his seventh 30-point game of the campaign. “I couldn’t get any calls at the rim, but I was just trying to be aggressive.”
Green has averaged just 11.8 points in the previous six games, and his 10-of-28 shooting Thursday marked the seventh straight game in which he shot under 40 percent.
But Udoka liked what he saw from the 22-year-old.
“He was obviously very aggressive,” Udoka said. “And then he made the shots that he missed, frankly. I love the aggressiveness, going out and attacking.”
But Green’s production couldn’t prevent the Rockets from losing for the ninth time in the last 11 games. Fred VanVleet scored 21 points and Whitmore added 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Rockets were just 11 of 45 from 3-point range with VanVleet (2 of 8), Jabari Smith Jr. (1 of 6), Dillon Brooks (0 of 6) and Whitmore (0 of 5) all struggling.
“It wasn’t one of our better nights as far as guys opening up their looks and making extra passes,” Udoka said. “We had a few guys who were successful, but a few guys who struggled.”
Smith has 16 rebounds and averaged 15.5 rebounds over the last four games. He had 11 points in Thursday’s loss.
–Field level media
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