Rookie Ryan Dunn scored a career-high 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to help the host Phoenix Suns earn a 117-98 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday in the penultimate game of the season for both teams.
Both the Suns (36-45) and Spurs (33-48) will miss the postseason, with Phoenix falling short of the playoffs for the first time since 2020 while San Antonio has not played past the regular season since 2018-19.
Phoenix ran past the Spurs by scoring 20 of the final 25 points of the second quarter and turning a nine-point deficit into a a six-point lead at halftime. The Suns really stepped it up in the third quarter, pushing their lead to as many as 31 points before carrying a 92-64 margin to the final period.
From there, Phoenix cruised to the finish line and snapped an eight-game losing streak, its longest of the season and longest since Dec. 11-27, 2019.
Bradley Beal added 21 points for Phoenix, with Devin Booker scoring 18, Grayson Allen hitting for 15 and Collin Gillespie tallying 13 points.
Julian Champagnie led the Spurs with 23 points. Sandro Mamukelashvili added 19 off the bench, Stephon Castle racked up 16 points and 10 assists and Malaki Branham finished with 15 points.
The Spurs dominated the first quarter, scoring eight of the final 10 points of the period to carry a 33-28 lead after 12 minutes of play. Castle, the erstwhile league rookie of the year candidate, had 12 points in the quarter.
A basket and a 3-pointer by Branham over the first 1:22 of the second quarter stoked San Antonio’s advantage to 10 points. The Spurs were still up 42-33 before Phoenix found its stride, reeling off a 20-3 run capped by Beal’s 3-pointer to take the lead at 53-45 with 1:01 to play in the first half. The Suns settled for a 53-47 lead at the break.
Champagnie paced the Spurs with 15 points before halftime while Castle had a dozen. Beal’s 13 points led Phoenix, with Dunn scoring 12 and Booker adding 11 in the first half.
The Suns kept the momentum in the early part of the third quarter, expanding their lead to 68-51 on Beal’s layup with 7:57 left in the period.
–Field Level Media
