Booker Scores 31, Leads Suns To 120-112 Victory Over Jazz In The Teams' NBA Cup Opener

Devin Booker scored 31 points and Brley Beal ded 24 to help Phoenix Suns open NBA Cup pool play with a 120-112 victory over Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

Grayson Allen chipped in 15 points for 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 Jazz with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Filipowski ded 18 points off 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 game but cut deficit to 89-83 on Filipowski’s dunk with 10:18 left. Beal countered with consecutive baskets to keep Jazz from drawing closer. Royce O’Neale and Booker followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Phoenix’s le to 110-98 with 3:58 remaining.

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

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

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

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

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