Booker scores 31, leads Suns to 120-112 victory over Jazz in the teams’ NBA Cup opener

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Devin Booker scored 31 points and Bradley Beal added 24 to help the Phoenix Suns open NBA Cup pool play with a 120-112 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

Grayson Allen chipped in 15 points for the Suns. Booker, Beal and Allen combined to make 13 3-pointers. Mason Plumlee finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds while starting in place of injured center Jusuf Nurkic.

John Collins led the Jazz with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Filipowski added 18 points off the bench and Lauri Markkanen chipped in 17. Jordan Clarkson finished with 16 points and a team-high eight assists.

Utah trailed by double digits much of the game but cut the deficit to 89-83 on Filipowski’s dunk with 10:18 left. Beal countered with consecutive baskets to keep the Jazz from drawing closer. Royce O’Neale and Booker followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Phoenix’s lead to 110-98 with 3:58 remaining.

Takeaways

Suns: Explosive and efficient offense helped Phoenix squash multiple would-be rallies. The Suns were proficient in transition, scoring 16 fast-break points, and also knocked down 18 3-pointers.

Jazz: Utah flexed its muscle around the basket, outscoring the Suns 58-34 in the paint.

Key moment

After the Jazz pulled within five on back-to-back baskets from Markkanen and Filipowski, an unforced defensive error ignited the Suns. Markkanen accidentally tipped the ball into the Phoenix basket while going for a rebound. It touched off a 12-0 run that put the Suns up 49-32 midway through the second quarter.

Key stat

Phoenix went 9 of 17 from 3-point range in the first half while shooting 58.5% from the field overall.

Up next

The Suns visit Sacramento on Wednesday for their second game in four days against the Kings while the Jazz host Dallas on Thursday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba