Suns Get Revenge on Hornets in Nail-Biting Win

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (19-19) extended their win streak to three games with a 120-113 victory over the Charlotte Hornets (8-28) at Footprint Center Sunday night.

Phoenix avenged its 115-104 loss to Charlotte on Tuesday night. The Hornets had not played since this first matchup after having games against the Lakers and Clippers postponed due to the Los Angeles wildfires.

With Royce O'Neale (9 points, 4 rebounds) back from a six-game absence due to an ankle injury, the Suns entered tonight completely healthy outside of Jusuf Nurkic, who tested positive for the flu this morning.

On the second night of a back to back, this game came right down to the wire and Phoenix came back from down as much as 12.

Devin Booker (30 points on 10-20 FG, 8 assists, 5 rebounds) and Kevin Durant (27 points on 11-24 FG, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) led the scoring for the Suns.

Bradley Beal (15 points, 6 assists) had a big first quarter, while Oso Ighodaro scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter. The Suns won the bench points 47-22.

Unfortunately for the Suns, they lost Grayson Allen due to left knee soreness at halftime after he recorded 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and two steals in 13 minutes off the bench in the first half.

Mark Williams had a monster game for Charlotte with 24 points (9-12 FG) and 16 rebounds. LaMelo Ball led Charlotte with 25 points and 11 assists.

The Hornets outrebounded the Suns 52-39, but Phoenix won the points off turnovers 26-10, which ultimately proved to be a big deciding factor.

Quick Recap

The Hornets started off hot with an 8-0 run and led 34-28 at the end of the first quarter. Phoenix had a tough time defending inside against Williams (9 points, 5 rebounds), but Beal provided a much-needed spark off the bench with 10 points in the quarter.

Phoenix tied up the game early in the second quarter and withstood a Charlotte run to make it 62-62 at halftime. The Hornets dominated the glass in the half, outrebounding Phoenix 29-17 and grabbing 11 offensive rebounds. Allen had a big 13 points off the bench in the half for the Suns, while Williams was up to 22 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte, marking season highs in both categories in a game before the break.

Booker and Durant combined for the first 24 points of the third quarter for the Suns, but Charlotte shot 60% from the field in the period to take a 98-93 lead into the fourth.

Phoenix had a rough start to the fourth quarter, converting on only one of its first six shot attempts. However, the Suns tightened up their defense and eventually grabbed a 111-110 lead with 3:07 to go after a Durant jumper. Royce O'Neale iced the game with a corner 3-pointer to make it 118-113 Suns with 40.7 seconds left, as the Suns ended up winning the final quarter 27-15.

What's Next

The Suns begin a five-game road trip Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks.