Devin Booker became the Phoenix Suns' career leader in games scoring 40 or more points with 16 to his name.
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Devin Booker had 43 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds, Chris Paul scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and the Phoenix Suns extended their winning streak to eight with a 105-97 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
”It’s a good feeling now, but it came with a learning curve,” Booker said. ”There was a lot of trial and error, but now we’ve been in enough situations where we know what to expect.”
CLUTCH TIME.
BOOK IT! pic.twitter.com/n4PbHMFrIk
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 27, 2022
The Jazz trailed 98-94 when Hassan Whiteside committed an offensive foul and a technical. Booker made two technicals around a jumper that beat the shot clock to give the Suns the cushion they needed.
Playing without Donovan Mitchell (concussion) and Rudy Gobert (left calf strain), the Jazz got a boost from Jordan Clarkson, who scored 16 of his team-high 26 points in the fourth quarter. Whiteside had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Mike Conley also scored 16 points and added 10 assists for the Jazz, who dropped their ninth game in the last 11.
The Suns were also missing two starters in Jae Crowder (wrist) and Deandre Ayton (ankle), but Bismack Biyombo had 12 points in his first start of the season.
Early on, the Suns simply outhustled and outran the Jazz, turning turnovers and missed shots into easy points in transition. Booker, with 21 points, outscored the Jazz by himself in the first quarter and the Suns blocked five shots on their way to a 39-18 lead after one period.
”Chris can read the game and when Book has it going like that, he typically goes to sets where he can get him in catch-shoot environments,” Phoenix coach Monty Williams said. ”But when he’s in a groove like that, I think our team feeds off it.”
Booker had 26 points in the first half – a season high for the Suns – but they collectively went 5 for 17 in the second period. It took 35 field goal attempts on Monday to score 33 points, but he was far more efficient this time around, going 16 for 28 and adding nine free throws. Booker became the Suns’ career leader in games scoring 40 or more points with 16.
”I don’t take these moments for granted,” Booker said. ”Coming into a tough Utah building and it being rowdy here and us only having nine men and still coming up with a win – that’s why you see a smile on our faces.”
The Suns’ top-ranked defense frustrated the Jazz until Clarkson started hitting some perimeter shots. The same teams played a tight one Monday with Phoenix prevailing over an extremely short-handed Jazz team, 115-109. Conley, Ingles, Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O’Neale sat out in Phoenix, but returned for Wednesday’s rematch.
