PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 30 points, including a 28-foot step-back 3-pointer that put the game away, as the Phoenix Suns held off the Charlotte Hornets 101-96 on Thursday night, Arizona Sports reported.
The win was the Suns’ second straight and moved them to 5-6. Charlotte fell to 4-8.
Phoenix leaned on 27 Hornets turnovers to generate offense. The Suns started 10-of-23 from 3-point range but missed 17 of their last 20 attempts and never scored 30 points in a quarter, according to Arizona Sports.
After Phoenix went up six with 2:40 left, Charlotte trapped Booker to force the ball out of his hands, and the Hornets pulled within three. Booker then scored through three defenders on a contested floater and hit the step-back 3 on the next trip to seal it.
“To be transparent, we’re still searching, we’re still finding (it),” Booker said after the game. “I always say it feels better in a win, but we definitely have some things to clean up.”
Booker shot 12-of-20 with seven assists and two turnovers. Over his last seven games he is averaging 27.4 points and 4.9 assists, according to Arizona Sports.
Lineup chemistry remains a work in progress. The group of Booker, Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges and Jalen Green was a combined minus-23 in just over 17 minutes together, and Green played only 21 minutes, his third straight game under 25, the outlet reported.
Sources: Arizona Sports. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Sean Dudley / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
