Devin Booker scores 52, Suns beat Pelicans 124-111
NEW ORLEANS (AZFamily/AP)— Devin Booker scored 52 points, the fifth-highest scoring game of his career, as Phoenix cruised to an easy win over the Pelicans in the Big Easy on Monday night.
Booker shot 19-28 from the floor, including 8-16 from 3-point land. He added nine assists and three rebounds.
Kevin Durant had 20 points, while Jusuf Nurkic had 19 points and 19 rebounds.
Phoenix has the tie-breaker against the Pelicans after being them in January in New Orleans.
The Suns are now in seventh place and a game behind New Orleans for the No. 6 playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Rebounding from a 128-103 loss to Oklahoma City on Friday night, the Suns (44-31) inched closer to New Orleans (45-30). The teams play again in Phoenix on Sunday.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 30 points. Trey Murphy III scored 21, and C.J. McCollum added 15.
Phoenix started hot from the opening tip, scoring a season-high 46 points in the first quarter, thanks to 67% shooting from the field and 64% from three. Booker had 24 in the opening frame alone, going 5-7 from beyond the arc.
The Suns led by as many as 25 points in the third quarter. New Orleans cut the deficit with a 20-8 run to trail 103-90 entering the fourth quarter.
The Pelicans went on an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter to get within seven points at 115-108 with 2:46 to play. But then Booker scored his 50th and 52nd points, and the Suns sealed the deal.
The Suns were just 1-10 on 3s in the fourth.
In Phoenix’s 123-109 road victory over New Orleans on Jan. 19, Booker also rang up 52 points, including 25 in the first quarter. His 24-point outburst in the first quarter Monday night gave him 76 points in his previous five quarters against the Pelicans.
Booker finished the first half with 37 points on 14-of-19 shooting, including 6-of-10 from long range, as Phoenix built a 74-54 lead on 57.4% shooting from the field. The Suns made 13 of 25 3-pointers in the half.
The Suns built a wall around Zion Williamson on defense, and the Pelicans’ leading scorer didn’t take his first shot until late in the first quarter.
Booker extended his incredible streak against New Orleans. In a 118-114 victory over the Pelicans on Dec. 17, 2022, Booker scored 58 points, the fourth-highest single-game total of his 10-year NBA career. Booker has eight 50-plus scoring games in his career.
Monday’s game was the Suns’ final one on their five-game road trip, where they went 3-2.
The Suns are back at home on Wednesday and will face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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