Devin Booker did not wait for the fourth quarter to settle Phoenix's night. By halftime the Suns already had the lead they needed, and by the middle of the third the losing streak was finished in everything but the final horn.
Booker scored 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting with four 3-pointers and a perfect 4-for-4 night at the line, and Phoenix beat the Orlando Magic 117-104 on Thursday at Mortgage Matchup Center. ESPN's box matches that line and adds one rebound, eight assists, three steals and three turnovers in 34 minutes. The Suns snapped a four-game slide and moved to 2-5.
Orlando fell to 2-6 and has lost three in a row.
Twenty-three before the break
Phoenix controlled most of the first half. Booker had 23 points by intermission on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3 of 4 from deep, and he beat the halftime buzzer with a 3 that made it 63-51, the Associated Press reported. The Suns took the first quarter 33-26 and the second 30-25.
Dillon Brooks finished with 24 points, and Miles Bridges had 18 points plus a season-high 13 rebounds and five assists. Booker and Brooks later hit back-to-back threes midway through the third to push the lead to 78-60, the AP wrote, and Phoenix carried a 96-73 edge into the fourth.
A 30-point cushion, then the close
Collin Gillespie's 3-pointer with 9:20 left created the night's largest lead at 30 points, according to the AP. Orlando outscored Phoenix 31-21 in the fourth, but the deficit was already too wide. The Suns shot 17 of 34 from 3-point range (50 percent), with Booker and Brooks making four apiece.
Phoenix's defense turned Orlando's mistakes into the margin. The Magic committed 25 turnovers, and the Suns scored 36 points off them, the AP said. ESPN's team totals show Phoenix with 14 steals as a club against Orlando's nine.
