Saving the day
PHOENIX—Devin Booker hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining, Jordan Goodwin scored 26 points with a career-high eight triples and the Suns beat the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, 108-105, on Sunday night.
Booker took the late inbounds pass and drilled the long three-pointer over Alex Caruso, shaking a season-long slump from long range. Ajay Mitchell missed a corner three at the buzzer that would have tied it.
Oklahoma City’s four-game winning streak was snapped and the team fell to 30-6, which is still the best record in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 25 points while Jalen Williams had 23.
The Suns—who trailed by 18 in the second quarter—won despite coughing up a late four-point lead.
Phoenix guard Dillon Brooks made a tough three-pointer over Gilgeous-Alexander with 36 seconds left to give the Suns a 105-101 advantage. Chet Holmgren hit a turnaround jumper to cut it to 105-103 with 26 seconds remaining.
Brooks had a turnover on the ensuing possession and Williams made a step-back jumper to tie it at 105 with 8.2 seconds left.
But Booker’s big shot erased the late problems. He finished with 24 points. Brooks scored 22. Goodwin made 9-of-16 shots off the bench, including 8-of-13 from behind the arc.
The Suns trailed, 49-31, in the second quarter, but rallied for a 71-70 lead late in the third on Ryan Dunn’s three-pointer. Phoenix took a 74-73 advantage into the fourth.
The Thunder built a 24-9 lead in the first, while the Suns missed their first eight three-point attempts.
Second straight home win
Luguentz Dort and Williams both had 10 points for the Thunder before the break. Goodwin led the Suns with nine.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Luka Doncic scored 36 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, LeBron James added 26 points with 10 assists and the Lakers rallied for a 120-114 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jake LaRavia also scored 26 points against his former team and Deandre Ayton had 15 points as the Lakers earned their second home victory over the Grizzlies in three days. The consecutive victories came after Los Angeles lost four of its previous five contests.
Morant still out
Jaylen Wells scored 23 points for Memphis and rookie Cedric Coward scored 16 points with nine rebounds, all in the first half, but did not play after halftime because of an ankle injury.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 14 points and Jock Landale had 13 points with 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who lost their fourth consecutive game.
Memphis guard Ja Morant (calf) was out for the 15th time over the past 21 games.
The Lakers trailed by 11 points with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter before closing the period on an 8-2 run to trail 87-83.
Los Angeles tied it 92-92 on a driving layup by LaRavia with 7:14 remaining, then took its first lead since the first quarter at 94-92 on another layup by LaRavia.
The teams traded the lead back and forth before the Lakers took the lead for good at 100-99 on a pull-up jumper from Doncic with 5:12 remaining. Consecutive three-pointers from Doncic put Los Angeles up, 112-103, with 2:08 left.
The victory came without Rui Hachimura (calf) for the third consecutive game, while Austin Reaves (calf) missed his fourth consecutive contest.
