Dillon Brooks supplied the third-quarter scoring burst Phoenix needed alongside Devin Booker. The Suns had another player putting the ball through the hoop while the game was still within Orlando’s reach.
With Phoenix ahead 63-55 early in the third quarter, Brooks took a pass from Jalen Green and finished a running dunk at 10:48. He followed with a 26-foot 3-pointer, another dunk, a 24-foot running jumper and a 5-foot basket.
The sequence produced 12 points, pushed the Suns from an eight-point lead to an 18-point advantage and helped turn a competitive game into a 117-104 Phoenix victory over the Orlando Magic.
That stretch mattered because it changed the burden carried by Devin Booker. Booker still scored 30 points and supplied eight assists, but Phoenix had enough creation around him to make his scoring one part of the offense rather than its entire operating system. The Suns made 17 of 34 3-point attempts, recorded 30 assists and converted Orlando’s 25 turnovers into 36 points.
For a team that had just lost four games in a row, the most encouraging feature was how many different ways it found to build separation.
Brooks was the spark, but the third quarter was not a solo exhibition. Booker assisted Brooks’ 26-foot 3-pointer, then found Miles Bridges for a 23-footer. He later set up Ryan Dunn’s dunk and Khaman Maluach’s hook shot. Bridges also assisted Brooks’ dunk and running jumper, linking the two wings in a stretch when Phoenix kept adding pressure without asking Booker to take every shot.
The period ended with Phoenix ahead 96-73 after a 33-22 advantage. That margin came from shooting, but also from possession damage. Orlando committed 25 turnovers and Phoenix had 14 steals.
The Magic’s Franz Wagner finished with 15 assists, an impressive display of creation that came alongside six turnovers. Anthony Black added six assists and five turnovers. Orlando could still move the ball; it simply gave away too many of the possessions it had worked to build.
Booker’s night deserves more than a footnote. He scored 23 points before halftime, then continued to organize the offense after the break instead of disappearing into a scoring-only role. His eight assists were attached to several of Phoenix’s most useful third-quarter baskets, while his own 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range kept Orlando from treating him as a single-purpose threat.
Miles Bridges gave the Suns an answer in another area. He scored 18 points, grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds and added five assists. His work was especially valuable because Orlando won the overall rebounding battle 48-33, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass.
