Jalen Green scored 29 points and sank six 3-pointers in his season debut as the host Phoenix Suns beat the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 115-102 on Thursday.
Devin Booker added 24 points, Grayson Allen produced 18 points and four 3-pointers and Royce O’Neale had 17 points and five threes for the Suns, who made 19 treys, one short of a season high. Phoenix won for the third time in four games.
Ivica Zubac amassed a season-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, Cam Christie logged 17 points and John Collins had 13 for the Clippers, who took their third straight defeat.
Los Angeles played without leading scorers Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
Leonard (24.3 points per game) missed his second straight game due to a sprained right knee. Harden (23.3) did not play for personal reasons, the Clippers announced.
Without them, the Clippers could not keep up after staying close for a half. They fell to 0-3 on the road.
The Suns blew the game open with a 33-11 run in the third quarter for an 84-64 lead. O’Neale made three 3-pointers in that spurt, and Booker sank two of his three threes.
The Suns outscored the Clippers 40-23 in the third and stretched their lead to as many as 25 points in the fourth. Los Angeles got within 11 with two minutes left but never pulled closer.
Green, who missed Phoenix’s first eight games because of a right hamstring strain, was on a time restriction and played 23 minutes.
Mark Williams wound up with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who won for the fourth time in five home games.
The Suns shot 44.6% from the floor and made 19 of 49 3-point attempts (38.8%).
The Clippers hit 44.3% from the field and were 10 of 31 (32.3%) from long distance.
Bradley Beal had five points on 2-of-14 shooting for the Clippers in his first game in Phoenix since being waived in the offseason. The Suns bought out the final two years and $11 million of Beal’s contract before he signed a two-year, $11 million deal with then Clippers.
The Clippers will face the Suns in the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday in Inglewood, Calif. The teams have split the first two games of their four-game season series.
–Field Level Media
