Devin Booker had 30 points and 10 assists, Jalen Green and Collin Gillespie each added 24 points and the host Phoenix Suns ran away from Charlotte in the second half for a 111-99 victory on Sunday to break the Hornets’ 10-game road winning streak.
Rookie forward Rasheer Fleming had career-highs with 16 points and four 3-pointers for the Suns, who have won four of five.
LaMelo Ball scored 22 points and made four 3-pointers, Miles Bridges scored 16 points and Kon Knueppel added 15 points for the Hornets, playing the first of a four-game trip.
Gillespie had five 3-pointers and Green also had four.
There were 10 ties and 15 lead changes in the first half, but the Suns scored the first eight points of the second half for a 68-58 lead and didn’t trail from that point.
Gillespie capped a 12-2 run with a pair of 3-pointers to give the Suns a 98-85 lead with 6:02 remaining, and his fifth 3-pointer made it 110-94 with 2:40 left.
Booker made all 15 of his free-throw attempts, setting a season high in makes and tying a career high for most makes without a miss in a game. The Suns were 23 of 26 from the foul line.
The Hornets, 16-5 in their last 21, had not lost on the road since a 136-116 defeat at Golden State on Jan. 17.
Charlotte made 15 of 45 3-pointers, the ninth straight game in which the Hornets have made at least 15. Grant Williams (10) had three 3-pointers and Knueppel and Brandon Miller had two.
Miller, plagued by foul trouble, had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Knueppel had 10 points and one of the Hornets’ five 3-pointers in the first quarter. Gillespie’s 37-foot three at the buzzer trimmed the Hornets’ lead to 30-28.
Green had 12 points in the second quarter and Booker had eight as the Suns took a 60-58 lead at half.
Suns guard Grayson Allen (right knee management) was a late scratch.
–Field Level Media
