Suns Fall to Magic Behind Sluggish Second Half
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (26-20) fell to the Orlando Magic (24-22) in their game Sunday evening after another letdown in the fourth quarter.
The Suns and Magic were both coming off of disappointing losses to teams that are perceived as inferior on Friday night and were looking to get back into the win column.
Phoenix started the game with a different starting unit due to Jusuf Nurkic's absence stemming from a thumb injury. Bradley Beal played despite being questionable due to a nasal fracture.
Phoenix jumped out to a 37-26 lead after one frame, lead by a balanced effort and 10 first quarter points from Devin Booker. Orlando rebounded behind their notable stingy defense in the second quarter, outscoring Phoenix 25-19 heading into the locker room.
Magic star F Paolo Banchero paced Orlando with 13 points in the first half, while Phoenix was led by Booker's 19.
After a fairly stagnant third period, Phoenix went into the fourth quarter with a 84-82 lead following a 22-point performance from Booker to push him to 40 heading into the final 12 minutes of action.
The Suns unfortunately suffered another flameout to finish the game, failing to reach 10 points in the quarter until the closing two minutes of the contest when the game was already out of reach.
Phoenix went on to lose by a score of 113-98 after bring outscored by 20 points in the second half.
Notable Performances
Devin Booker- 44 PTS, 4 REB, 2 BLK
Kevin Durant- 14 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST
Paolo Bancherò- 26 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST
Markelle Fultz- 14 PTS, 4 AST, 5 STL
What's Next
The Suns are set to face the Miami Heat tomorrow night at 5:30 PM Arizona time.
