Jalen Johnson scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to help the Atlanta Hawks beat the visiting Suns 110-103 on Friday after Phoenix lost Devin Booker to an ankle injury.
Atlanta scored the final eight points of the game to win their second straight and end the Suns’ three-game winning streak.
It was the 12th straight year the Hawks have beaten the Suns in Atlanta. The victory gave the Hawks a sweep of the two-game season series.
Johnson matched his career high with 18 rebounds for his 30th double-double and added nine assists. Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu scored 25 points and CJ McCollum added 21.
Phoenix was led by Booker with 31, but he did not play in the final quarter after hurting his right ankle late in the third period. Grayson Allen and Collin Gillespie each scored 16 for the Suns.
The back-and-forth first quarter featured seven ties and four lead changes, with Phoenix emerging on top 31-27.
Atlanta led by as many as eight (50-42) in the middle of the second quarter on McCollum’s floater — two of his 16 first-half points — then watched the Suns come back to take the lead. The Hawks scored the final eight points of the half to take a 64-59 lead.
The Hawks led by 11 points when Corey Kispert hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter. But from that point the Suns surged to take a 91-84 edge into the final period.
However, the Suns sustained a big blow with 5.4 seconds left in the third when Booker had to be taken to the locker room. Booker appeared to roll his right ankle after stepping on Okongwu’s foot, and he crumbled to the court. Booker had scored 16 points in the period.
The Suns had already lost Jalen Green in the first quarter because of right hamstring tightness after he played only four minutes. Green was playing his second game since returning from a 33-game absence caused by an injury to the same hamstring.
Atlanta played again without Kristaps Porzingis (Achilles) and Zaccharie Risacher (knee).
–Field Level Media
