Devin Booker scored 26 points and had 10 assists as the Phoenix Suns ended a five-game losing streak with a 127-100 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal both scored 23 points in their first game back after calf injuries. The Suns had struggled without them, going 1-6 without Durant and 0-5 without Beal.
Jusuf Nurkic added 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Grayson Allen contributed 10 points for Phoenix, who outscored the Lakers 65-40 in the second half.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 25 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocked shots, while LeBron James had 18 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. D’Angelo Russell scored 16 points, and Austin Reaves had 15 for Los Angeles, who lost their third straight game.
James made two 3-pointers, tying him with Kyle Korver for seventh place on the all-time list with 2,450 threes.
The game was part of the NBA Cup, and Phoenix, Los Angeles, and the San Antonio Spurs are tied for first place at 2-1 in the Western Group B standings.
Phoenix shot 51.5% from the field and made 17 of 42 three-point attempts. Tyus Jones had five steals for the Suns. Los Angeles shot 43.5% overall but struggled from three-point range, hitting only 8 of 34 attempts.
The Suns were up by two points at halftime, but Nurkic and Booker took charge in the third quarter. Phoenix outscored the Lakers 36-18 in that period. Nurkic scored the first 10 points of the quarter, and Booker followed with 11 more points, pushing the lead to 83-72 with 5:37 left.
Royce O’Neale’s 3-pointer extended the Suns’ lead to 91-74, and Tyus Jones hit a buzzer-beater to give Phoenix a 98-78 advantage at the end of the third. The Suns shot 60.9% (14 of 23) in the third quarter, while the Lakers shot just 28.6% (6 of 21).
Beal scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, giving Phoenix a 25-point lead with 9:25 to go. Phoenix’s lead grew to 30 points at one point as they won their second game against Los Angeles this season.
This was the second straight game where the Lakers struggled in the second half. They were outscored 70-39 by the Denver Nuggets in a 127-102 loss on Saturday.
Durant and Beal each scored 14 points in the first half, and the Suns held a 62-60 lead at the break. Davis had 17 points for the Lakers in the first half.
