Booker fuels scorching Suns past Mavericks

[August 14, 2020]  Devin Booker scored 23 of his game-high 27 points in the first half, and the Phoenix Suns completed an unexpected undefeated run through the NBA bubble on Thursday with a 128-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks near Orlando.

The Suns (34-39) finished their bubble experience as the only undefeated team among all participants, going an improbable 8-0.

With the Memphis Grizzlies beating the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks in a game that took place simultaneously, the Suns needed a loss by the Portland Trail Blazers to the Brooklyn Nets later Thursday to get into the Western Conference play-in series as the No. 9 seed. Unfortunately for Phoenix, the Trail Blazers rallied to defeat the Nets, so the Suns' season is over.

Dario Saric added 16 points, Cameron Johnson and Cameron Payne each had 15 and Ricky Rubio dished out 12 assists for the Suns. Booker watched the fourth quarter from the bench.

The Mavericks went 3-5 in the bubble and finished the regular season at 43-32. They head into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the West, where they'll face the second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

Dallas played without one of their top scorers, Kristaps Porzingis, who was held out. Boban Marjanovic led the Mavericks with 18 points and 20 rebounds, and star Luka Doncic tallied 18 points in only 13 minutes of action.

The Suns ran out to a 13-point lead with a 10-0 run late in the first quarter, highlighted by 3-pointers from Payne and Jevon Carter.

Suns' Devin Booker (1) dribbles as Dallas Mavericks' Trey Burke (right) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Ashley Landis/Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavericks turned things around in the second quarter. They trimmed the Suns' lead to 45-42 on Delon Wright's layup with 7:36 left.

But the Suns took over for good, pushing their lead to 17 at 64-47 after Booker banked in a fall-away jumper, was fouled and hit the free throw. Phoenix made 29 of 44 shots in the first half for 66 percent, including 8 of 14 on 3s.

The Suns held a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

--Field Level Media

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.