Kevin Durant scored 42 points to lead the Phoenix Suns to one of its biggest wins of the season, a 123-112 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.
Not only did the Suns beat one of the NBA’s top teams, they also moved ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for the 10th spot in the Western Conference standings which would put them in the play-in tournament.
Cleveland took an early 11-7 lead, but the Suns went ahead with a 16-9 burst to take the lead. The Cavs briefly went back ahead on a Darius Garland jumper with 42 seconds left in the frame, but Durant gave Phoenix the lead going into the second quarter.
The Suns then took control on two 3-pointers from Royce O’Neale and a floater in the lane by Devin Booker for a 49-38 lead and took an 11-point margin into halftime.
“Just taking the open ones, knocking them down,” O’Neale told the Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin afterwards. “These guys were finding me. You see one, two, three go in, you know, just keep shooting.”
O’Neale finished with 15 points off the bench, hitting 5-of-8 3-pointers. Booker added 17 with 10 assists, while Tyus Jones added 16 points. Oso Ighodaro grabbed 13 rebonds, while Durant also had eight rebounds and six assists for the night.
Phoenix played without Bradley Beal, who missed his third consecutive game with a hamstring injury suffered in last Sunday’s 107-96 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s set to be reevaluated before Sunday’s matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. Grayson Allen was also out with a foot injury that’s sidelined him for the past five games.
The Suns have won three straight and four of their past five. Phoenix and Dallas are both 34-37, but the Suns have the tiebreaker with a 3-1 season record versus the Mavericks.
Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 18 points, five rebounds and six assists, with De’Andre Hunter adding 17 off the bench. Evan Mobley and Ty Jerome each scored 16 points with five assists, with Mobley also getting 12 rebounds.
After winning 16 straight games, Cleveland has now lost four in a row. With the loss to Phoenix, Cleveland dropped to 56-14 and behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (58-12) for the best record in the NBA. However, the Cavs still hold a five-game lead over the Boston Celtics (51-19) for the top mark in the East.
Cleveland has an opportunity to turn things around, ending its Western road trip with matchups against the Utah Jazz (16-55) and Portland Trail Blazers (32-39).
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