Devin Booker recorded 22 points and 13 assists and Kevin Durant had 22 points and six helpers as the Phoenix Suns produced a solid 122-106 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Phoenix’s Tyus Jones added 20 points off the bench and was 6-for-6 from 3-point range. Jones tied his career-best for 3-point makes on a night in which the Suns sank a season-high 24 treys (on 43 attempts).
Ryan Dunn scored 16 points, Bradley Beal added 15 and Oso Ighodaro had 11 for Phoenix (31-36), which moved within 1 1/2 games of the Dallas Mavericks (33-35) in the battle for the final Western Conference play-in berth.
The victory was just the sixth in the past 20 games for the Suns, who scored 38 points off 19 Sacramento turnovers.
DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and Zach LaVine added 21 for the Kings (33-33), who lost their fourth consecutive contest and are just 2 1/2 games ahead of Phoenix.
Domantas Sabonis returned from a six-game absence caused by a hamstring injury to record his ninth triple-double of the season. Sabonis had 12 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds and three steals.
Malik Monk added 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Kings but missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. Keegan Murray had 14 points and eight boards for Sacramento.
Phoenix shot 51.9 percent overall and a scorching 55.8 percent from behind the arc. Beal, Booker and Durant each made four treys.
Sacramento shot 49.4 percent from the field and was 8 of 32 (25 percent) from 3-point range.
Durant drained a 3-pointer for the final points of the first half, and he followed two treys from Beal with one of his own early in the third quarter to give the Suns a 76-63 lead.
The Kings moved within 82-75 on Sabonis’ basket with 3:31 left in the quarter. Booker, Royce O’Neale and Collin Gillespie hit treys during an 11-0 surge that pushed the Phoenix lead to 18 with 1:25 remaining.
DeRozan’s jumper as time expired in the period left the Kings trailing 97-82 entering the fourth quarter.
Phoenix started the final period with seven straight points — four by Dunn plus a 3-pointer by O’Neale — to make it 104-82.
Later in the period, Booker hit team 3-pointer No. 23 to account for the new season high and make it 117-98 with 3:48 to play.
Durant scored 14 points and Jones had 12 on four treys in the first half as the Suns led 62-57 at the break. Murray had 14 in the half for Sacramento, and Monk followed with 12.
–Field Level Media
