Suns Stumble During Clutch Time in Loss vs Thunder
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (35-26) fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder (42-18) Sunday night at Footprint Center.
The Suns were forced to navigate this game sans Devin Booker - as the star suffered a sprained ankle in the waning moments of last night's loss to the Houston Rockets and was ruled out earlier on Sunday.
Phoenix got off to a quick start, taking a 10-2 lead just over three minutes into the game - and continued an extremely impressive defensive effort throughout the remainder of the quarter.
The Suns trailed by a score of 28-24 at the end of the first, despite Jusuf Nurkic chipping in 12 rebounds and great rim protection.
OKC parlayed the momentum they started late in the first quarter en route to a double-digit lead of 66-52 at halftime.
The third quarter continued the meltdown from a strong first nine minutes of play for several minutes, but an Eric Gordon three-pointer at 3:58 cut the Thunder lead to 10 after Phoenix trailed by as much as 24.
The Suns found their footing and began to hit shots, only trailing by a score of 89-85 going into the final quarter.
Phoenix expanded off of the newfound life and took a 91-89 lead early in the fourth, though the Thunder eventually regained control and forced the Suns into a few awful possessions that included tough shots and more turnovers.
Jalen Williams' mid-range bucket at the 2:00 mark essentially put the game on ice for Oklahoma City to see out a win as the final buzzer sounded.
The Thunder won despite shooting a poor 9-31 from downtown. Phoenix turned the ball over 22 times during the loss.
Key Performances
Kevin Durant -20 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST
Bradley Beal - 31 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST
Jusuf Nurkic - 14 PTS, 31 REB, 1 BLK
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - 35 PTS, 8 REB, 9 AST
Jalen Williams - 22 PTS, 4 REB, 3 STL
What's Next
The Suns travel to face the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
