NBA: Paul shines for Suns in win over Mavs

LOS ANGELES -- Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns poured it on in the fourth quarter, pulling away for a 129-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks and a commanding 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series.

Paul scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as Western Conference top seeds Phoenix broke open a close game, withstanding a 35-point performance from Mavericks star Luka Doncic.

Dallas trying to head home for games three and four with a split of two games in Phoenix, took a 60-58 lead into halftime.

But the Mavs had no answer for Paul, who keyed a 23-2 fourth quarter scoring run that effectively sealed it for Phoenix with minutes to spare.

Devin Booker scored 21 of his 30 points in the second half for the Suns, who connected on a franchise playoff record 64.5% of their shots from the field. That included 52% from three-point range as the Suns drained 13 baskets from beyond the arc.

"(We) just had to be a little bit more aggressive," Paul said. "That second quarter we started turning it over. They got it going. Shooters were making shots and we just wanted to stay the course."

Booker helped launch the turnaround with back-to-back three pointers early in the third quarter, but the Suns' 89-83 lead heading into the final period of the physical, sometimes testy contest looked tenuous.

Paul, however, took control, making six straight shots to gut-punch Dallas.

"We just did what we were supposed to do," Paul said as he looked to games three and four in Dallas starting on Friday. "We won two games at home."

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Devin Booker scores 49 as Suns clinch top seed

Devin Booker scored a season-high 49 points and added 10 assists, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists in his return to the lineup, and the visiting Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets, 140-130, on Thursday night to clinch the top seed in the Western Conference.

Mikal Bridges scored 22 points, Deandre Ayton had 16 points and Jae Crowder finished with 12 for the Suns (60-14), who have won seven straight.

Paul missed 15 games with a fractured thumb and hadn't played for the Suns since prior to the All-Star break. He did log two minutes in the All-Star Game.

Nikola Jokic led Denver (43-31) with 28 points, Bones Hyland scored 23, Aaron Gordon had 21, Will Barton had 17, Monte Morris scored 15, Jeff Green added 11 and DeMarcus Cousins had 10.

The teams traded leads in a high-scoring first half, with Phoenix leading by five and the Nuggets up by seven at one point.

Hyland did most of the damage for Denver. He scored 19 points off the bench, including 4-for-6 from behind the arc, to help give the Nuggets a 68-66 lead at halftime.

Things stayed close for the first few minutes of the third quarter before Denver created some distance. Barton and Morris hit 3-pointers, and Morris was fouled on his jumper and made the free throw for a four-point play and an 85-78 lead.

The Suns got within 89-86, but the Nuggets stretched the lead to 101-92 late in the period. Phoenix came back behind Booker, who scored 10 points in the final 2:52 to cut the deficit to 106-104 heading into the fourth.

Phoenix took the lead when Bridges' 3-pointer made it 110-109, then the Suns started to pull away. Bridges hit a pair of free throws, Booker made a jumper in the lane and Bridges hit another 3-pointer to make it 122-114.

Denver got within 124-120 on a three-point play by Gordon with 3:55 left, but Phoenix closed it out.

-reuters

NBA: Sweet 16: Suns' hot streak continues with win over Nets

Devin Booker scored 30 points as the Phoenix Suns never trailed, survived a late comeback attempt by the Brooklyn Nets and pushed their winning streak to 16 games with a 113-107 victory Saturday night.

The Suns are on their second-longest winning streak in team history. Phoenix can match the 2006-07 team for the longest winning streak in franchise lore by beating the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.

Booker shot 9 of 18 from the field and hit four 3-pointers. He did most of his scoring in the first and third quarters.

Chris Paul added 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Paul shot 9 of 19 and notched his 5,000th career rebound in the second.

Mikal Bridges added 13 while Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee contributed 10 apiece as Phoenix shot 44.6 percent.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 39 points, but Brooklyn saw its four-game winning streak stopped.

LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre' Bembry contributed 18 apiece for Brooklyn, which shot 50 percent but also committed 20 turnovers. James Harden finished with a triple-double of 12 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds despite shooting 4 of 15.

Booker scored 16 when the Suns sped out to a 21-8 lead midway through the first quarter and held a 14-point lead after the opening 12 minutes. He added 10 more in the third when the Nets got within seven early in the quarter and helped the Suns take a 90-72 lead into the fourth.

Brooklyn made one last charge, getting within 108-101 on Harden's layup that gave him the triple-double with 2:31 remaining. 

Durant's layup made it 110-103 with 45 seconds left and Harden's layup made it 111-105 with 32 seconds remaining, but Booker finished by hitting two free throws with 19 ticks left.

-reuters-

Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Ingram suspended, fined

LOS ANGELES – Lakers teammates Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul of the Rockets were suspended without pay Sunday for an on-court fight, with Paul taking the heaviest financial hit.

Ingram was suspended four games, Rondo will sit out three games and Paul two games. The NBA handed down the punishments a day after the incident in the fourth quarter at Staples Center.

The penalty was costliest to Paul, who has the highest salary of the trio and was fined a total of $491,782. Paul is president of the NBA Players’ Association. He began serving his suspension Sunday night and wasn’t at the arena when the Rockets lost to the Clippers 115-112. Rondo will be docked a total of $186,207, while Ingram’s total is $158,816.

source: philstar.com

‘Best of West’ final showdown looms

MANILA, Philippines — The Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets both raced to a pair of lopsided wins on Sunday and can book their spots in the Western Conference final with victories on their home courts on Tuesday.

Kevin Durant scored 38 points to power the reigning NBA champion Warriors over the New Orleans Pelicans, 118-92, and Chris Paul finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds as the Rockets defeated the Utah Jazz, 100-87.

Durant said his free form game plan allowed him to be aggressive and effective at the same time.

“I just try to tell myself that I’m at my best when I don’t care what happens after the game, the outcome or anything,” Durant said.


Stephen Curry added 23 points as the Warriors seized a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven second-round series.

The Warriors are seeking a fourth consecutive trip to the NBA finals and their third crown in four seasons.

Curry said the key was getting the ball to their hottest player, Durant.

“Just find ways to get him in scoring positions,” Curry said. “Sometimes, that’s not really hard to do – just throw it to him.

“Just keep the game simple at that point because he’s such a great scorer, you don’t have to really overthink things.”

The host Pelicans, led by 26 points and 12 rebounds from Anthony Davis, never led while Golden State stretched the lead to as many as 26 points.

Durant added nine rebounds while Draymond Green had eight points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Warriors.

In Utah, NBA veteran Paul, celebrating his 33rd birthday, also had 12 rebounds while James Harden scored 24 points to power the Rockets to a 3-1 series lead.
“It was an emotional, crazy game,” said Paul.

Clint Capela tallied 12 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks in the win.

Paul powered the offense and when he combined with Harden they were impossible to defend against.

“There are different ways to win,” said Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni. “We got a lot of stuff we can go to. The plan was to get that, so we wouldn’t be a one dimensional team.”                           

source: philstar.com