Devin Booker hit a go-ahead 17-footer with 2:37 remaining, Royce O’Neale extended the lead on a 3-pointer with 47.2 seconds to go and the Phoenix Suns survived a frantic finish to defeat the visiting Sacramento Kings 130-125 on Tuesday.
Kevin Durant had 28 points, Booker added 25 and Eric Gordon supplied 23 for the Suns, who prevailed despite losing star Bradley Beal to a left hamstring injury in the first quarter.
De’Aaron Fox poured in a game-high 40 points and Domantas Sabonis logged a triple-double for the Kings, who grabbed a 116-115 edge — the fifth lead change of the final period — on an alley-oop layup by Malik Monk with 2:49 to go.
Booker countered immediately with his lead-changing jumper. The Suns retained a slim advantage until O’Neale, acquired from the Brooklyn Nets at the trade deadline last week, bombed in his clutch 24-footer for a 122-118 lead in the final minute.
Phoenix then hung on for the fourth win in its past five games when Booker added six more points, four at the free-throw line, over the final 33.5 seconds.
Both teams seemed to have a nice grip on the game in the second half, the Kings with an 83-72 lead near the midpoint of the third quarter, the Suns after a 36-15 flurry bridging the third and fourth periods opened a 108-98 advantage with 8:41 to go.
But Sabonis had three consecutive hoops at the end of a 12-0 Sacramento run that gave the visitors a 110-108 lead and set up the back-and-forth finish.
Durant completed a double-double with a team-high 11 rebounds, while Booker found time for a team-high nine assists for the Suns, who evened the season series with Sacramento at 2-2.
Grayson Allen added 19 points for Phoenix, which outscored the visitors 39-27 on 3-pointers and 29-18 at the free-throw line. Gordon sank four of the Suns’ 13 threes, while Booker went 11-for-13 at the foul line.
Fox’s big night included nine rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Sabonis produced 35 points to complement game highs in rebounds (18) and assists (12).
Monk finished with 22 points and Kevin Huerter had 10 for the Kings, who lost for the fourth time in five games.
–Field Level Media
