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The Phoenix Suns were finally back at full strength on Tuesday night.
The Suns, with both stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal back on the court after their respective calf injuries, flew ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers. They picked up a 127-100 win at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, and handed the Lakers their first-ever loss in the NBA Cup.
The Suns had been struggling lately without both Durant and Beal available. Durant missed the Suns’ last seven games with a calf strain, and Beal missed five straight games with his calf injury. The team went just 1-6 with Durant out, and they lost five straight with both guys out of the lineup.
But on Tuesday night, thanks to a huge 22-6 run to close the third quarter, powered in large part by Jusuf Nurkic, the Suns had no issue cruising to the 27-point win. That push in the third quarter had the Suns suddenly up by 20 points entering the fourth.
Durant had 23 points and six rebounds for the Suns, shooting 9-of-17 from the field. Beal finished with 23 points and shot 10-of-15 from the field. He chased down LeBron James for a wild block off the backboard in the fourth quarter, which left James incredibly slow to come back down to the other end of the court.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 26 points and 10 assists, and Nurkic added 12 points and 12 rebounds. They shot 51.5% from the field as a team.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 25 points and 15 rebounds in the loss, which dropped them to 10-7 on the season. James finished just shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
The Suns and Lakers both sit at 2-1 in group play with one game left. The Lakers, who won the inaugural version of the event last year, will wrap the opening round with a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. The Suns’ next Cup game will be at home against the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 3. While the Suns hold a slight lead in the standings via point differential, the group is still very much up for grabs heading into the final game.
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Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-11-27 05:24:00
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