On Tuesday night, Devin Booker led the Phoenix Suns to a 108-104 victory over the Golden State Warriors with 32 points and three clutch assists in the last minutes of the game.
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On opening night of the NBA season, Devin Booker led the Phoenix Suns to a 108-104 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco with three clutch assists in the final minutes.
The Suns took a 103-99 lead with 1:09 remaining when Booker passed to Josh Okogie in the left corner for a 3-pointer.
Two free throws from Stephen Curry cut into the lead, but with 44.7 seconds remaining, Booker pulled the defense and found Eric Gordon for another 3-pointer, this time increasing the lead to five points.
Curry’s 3-pointer off an offensive rebound brought Golden State (who had lost three of four games to Phoenix last season) within 106-104 with 31.4 seconds left.
But after a timeout, Booker got the ball back and hit Jusuf Nurkic for a layup that ended the game with 10.3 seconds left on the clock.
Booker had no new backcourt partner Bradley Beal to help him out because Beal was out with a back issue, but he still managed to dish out six, seven, and eight assists.
Phoenix had a double-double from Kevin Durant (18 points and 10 rebounds) and Nikola Nurkic (14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds).
Okogie scored 17 points thanks to his late 3-pointer, his sole attempt from outside the arc. Gordon came off the bench to score 10 points after missing his first seven 3-point attempts.
Despite making 10 fewer 3-point attempts (43-33), the Suns outscored the Warriors 33-30.
While six Warriors scored in double figures, Curry led the way with 27 points despite missing 10 of his 14 3-point attempts.
For the Warriors, who were without Draymond Green (ankle injury), Klay Thompson scored 15 points, Chris Paul scored 14 points and dished out a game-high nine assists, and Jonathan Kuminga scored 12 points in limited playing time.
Booker’s 21 points in the first half were a major factor in the Suns’ 15-point halftime lead. But the Warriors came back strong in the third quarter, going on a massive 21-2 run that put them up 73-66 with 5 minutes left in the third.