The Phoenix Suns started slow, but turned it up a notch in the 4th quarter to pull away and secure a road win in Memphis. It didn’t come without a fight from Memphis in the opening 36 minutes of play.

Devin Booker and Jalen Green paced the Suns early, and Collin Gillespie broke out of a shooting slump for a big fourth quarter. Booker poured in 36 points on 16-24 shooting. Green added 21 points on 9-18 shooting, and both star guards were able to stay under 25 minutes played. The rookies both looked great.

Advertisement

The Suns outscored the Grizzlies by 24 points in the final quarter on 60% shooting along with 6 threes to pull away for good.

Phoenix now holds a 3.0 game lead over the Clippers for the 7th seed in the West with seven games left to play. Tonight was win number 42 on the season.

Game FlowFirst Half

Memphis jumped out ahead 13-9 early in the opening quarter. Phoenix took a 19-18 lead after a Jalen Green three, which took us to the first timeout of the evening. The ball was moving well early on.

Devin Booker poured in 12 points in the first 7 minutes of the period. The ball movement was sharp after the break and led to a 28-19 Phoenix lead.

Advertisement

We got some early Khaman Maluach minutes again, and he made his impact on the glass and drew multiple trips to the line.

After the opening 12 minutes of play, the Suns led 34-31. The Suns allowed 16 points in the paint in the quarter. Devin Booker led all scorers with 12. Jalen Green chipped in with 8.

Things got sloppy. The Grizzlies jumped out to a 12-7 advantage in the second quarter to take a two-point lead, which prompted a Jordan Ott timeout to talk things over.

The Grizzlies showed they were not going to back down without a fight, as you’d expect from (most) professional sports teams. Phoenix wasn’t able to pull away despite strong offensive outputs from both Booker and Green.

At halftime, Phoenix led 65-61. The Suns won the second quarter by just one point, 31-30. Booker and Green combined for 42 points on 24 shots. Memphis got some serious bench production, with 24 of its 61 points coming from the second unit.

Advertisement

Suns rookie big man Khaman Maluach had a career-high 10 rebounds at the half.

Second Half

The second half started with a continuation of the back-and-forth affair we saw in the opening two quarters.

Every time it looked like the Suns were going to pull away, this scrappy, young Memphis squad found a way to answer back. Memphis was matching the Suns’ physicality all night long, as they stormed in front to take an 86-83 lead.

Devin Booker continued to pour it in, hitting a 30-ball well before the 4th quarter even began.

A Jordan Goodwin triple evened things up at 86 apiece. Rasheer Fleming followed that up with a vicious transition dunk, but as they did all night long, Memphis responded with a three-pointer the very next possession to retake the lead.

Advertisement

Phoenix took a two-point lead (91-89) into the 4th quarter after this ATO was executed to perfection.

The Suns started to pour it on in the 4th, as the intensity went up a notch and it helped that the shots were falling. A 19-6 run gave Phoenix some breathing room, leading 110-95 in a flash.

Rasheer Fleming had 7 quick points along with Collin Gillespie’s five points to open the quarter, including a three-pointer that busted him out of his shooting slump. Look at the rook fly!

Phoenix won the final quarter 40 to 16. Everything was clicking for them on both ends of the floor, and they were able to give the starters some much-needed rest ahead of the second of their back-to-back set in Orlando tomorrow night.

Advertisement

Up Next

The Suns are back on the road tomorrow night in Orlando against the Magic.