Booker's late shots lift Suns past Rockets 102-99

Devin Booker broke a 95-95 tie with a step-back jumper and a step-back 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets 102-99 on Saturday, November 7.

Booker finished with 24 points on 10-of-24 shooting. His 10-foot step-back made it 97-95, his 25-foot step-back 3 off a pass from Oso Ighodaro made it 100-95, and a basket with 2:30 left, set up by Miles Bridges, made it 102-95.

The Suns (3-5) won at home as the underdog. The Rockets (7-3) were close to a 70 percent favorite before tip-off, according to the markets and our projection.

Phoenix scored 35 points in the first quarter. An 11-0 run that began in the final seconds of the first and carried into the second put the Suns up 41-23, and the lead reached 19 at 44-25.

Houston outscored Phoenix 24-12 in the second quarter. The Rockets closed the half on an 11-0 run that tied it 47-47 with 57.1 seconds left, then led 61-55 in the third quarter.

The game was tied 12 times and the lead changed hands 17 times. It was 93-93 with five minutes to play, and Phoenix won the stretch 9-6.

Kevin Durant had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Houston, helped by 10-of-11 free throw shooting. He made five of 14 shots. Alperen Sengun scored 15 points but made five of 16.

The Rockets shot 38.7 percent and made 10 of 35 3-pointers. The Suns' bench outscored Houston's 34-15, with 11 points from Luke Kennard and eight points and 10 rebounds from Khaman Maluach.

Bridges had 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Phoenix finished with 29 assists.

Houston answered late. Amen Thompson finished an alley-oop from Fred VanVleet to make it 102-97, and Durant hit a 16-foot jumper, also set up by VanVleet, with 46.7 seconds left to cut it to 102-99. Neither team scored again.

Up next

Rockets: home against the Denver Nuggets on Monday, November 9.

Suns: home against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, November 9.