Devin Booker’s hot 1st quarter leads Phoenix Suns past Houston Rockets

The Phoenix Suns came out of the gate red hot led by Devin Booker, and their huge lead was too much to overcome as the Houston Rockets fell short 110-105 at Footprint Center.

Coming into this season, the Suns have had championship aspirations with their newly assembled big 3 of Durant, Booker, and Beal. They haven’t been as dominant as expected but with all their offensive firepower, they are still a scary team to face in the playoffs, as each one of them can explode and takeover a game on any given night.

That is exactly what happened in this matchup, as Devin Booker went off for 35 points with 6 made triples. He started the game on fire, scoring 20 points in the first quarter and simply taking over to give Phoenix a 16-point lead 12 minutes into the contest. He was so dominant that in the 4th quarter Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore got chippy with him and words were exchanged.

Kevin Durant contributed with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists while Jusuf Nurkic recorded 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Royce O’Neale started for the injured Bradley Beal and he finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals.

For Houston, Jalen Green scored a team high 34 points with 7 made triples, as he did all that he could to bring his team back into this contest. Fred VanVleet finished with 21 points while Jabari Smith Jr. had 11 points and 16 rebounds. Alperen Sengun ended with 8 points in 23 minutes before getting ejected and Cam Whitmore provided 14 points off the bench.

The Suns improve to 35-24 with this victory and sit at the 5th seed in the West, only 3 games behind the Clippers for the 4th spot. Despite early season struggles, this team has been able to figure it out behind their 2 All-Stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

Offseason acquisition Bradley Beal has dealt with numerous injuries throughout the season, making it difficult for the Big 3 to gain chemistry as they’ve only had limited minutes playing with each other. Phoenix is still finding ways to win, however, as they are -3 over their last 10 games. Their next game will be on Saturday against this same Rockets squad.

Meanwhile, the Rockets drop to 25-36 with this loss, making them 12th in the Western Conference. Houston has a young core and will look to continue developing them in their last 21 games of the season. They have been struggling as of late, losing 9 of their last 11 games and currently on a 3-game losing streak. Their next game will be on Saturday against the Suns where they’ll look to get revenge for tonight’s outing.