Devin Booker recorded 32 points and seven assists, and the Phoenix Suns overcame the absence of Kevin Durant to post a 119-116 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists as Phoenix improved to 3-0 against the Warriors this season. Durant missed his second straight game with a sprained left ankle.
Stephen Curry scored 24 points and Brandin Podziemski added 20 points and 11 rebounds for Golden State, which lost for the 11th time in the past 15 games. The Warriors dropped their sixth straight road game.
Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected with 8:23 left in the third quarter for delivering a wild open-hand punch to the face of Nurkic.
Phoenix’s Bradley Beal returned from a 12-game absence due to a back injury and had 16 points in 27 minutes.
Jordan Goodwin scored 16 points and Chimezie Metu added 14 for Phoenix, which won for just the second time in six games.
Jonathan Kuminga had 16 points while Chris Paul and Dario Saric added 15 apiece for Golden State.
Booker made two 3-pointers in a 66-second span while scoring 10 points during a 12-0 burst that gave Phoenix a 109-96 lead with 3:56 remaining.
The Warriors rallied within 115-110 on Kuminga’s thunderous dunk with 1:03 left. Podziemski added consecutive layups to bring Golden State within one with 15.4 seconds remaining.
Booker made two free throws with 9.4 seconds left to give Phoenix a 117-114 edge. Curry missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with just over five seconds left before Beal knocked down two free throws with five seconds to go as the Suns closed it out.
Phoenix made 45.2 percent of its shots, including 14 of 39 from 3-point range.
The Warriors connected on 44.6 percent of their attempts and made 16 of 46 from behind the arc.
Golden State led 65-60 when Nurkic was defending Green and had his hand on Green’s hip. Green turned and swung and smacked Nurkic in the face.
The officiating crew reviewed the play and ruled it was a flagrant foul 2 and ejection for Green. Nurkic made the two ensuing free throws to start a stretch in which Phoenix scored 20 of 30 points to take an 80-75 lead with 3:17 left in the third quarter.
Beal later knocked down a jumper to give the Suns an 88-87 lead entering the final stanza.
Curry scored 16 first-half points as Golden State led 56-53 at the break. Booker scored 13 in the half for the Suns.
–Field Level Media
