Kevin Durant scored 29 points and Nick Richards continued to make a stellar impression as the Phoenix Suns notched a 119-109 victory over the visiting Washington Wizards on Saturday night.
Richards scored 20 points and collected a career-best 19 rebounds in his fourth game with the Suns and first at home since being acquired from the Charlotte Hornets last week.
Bradley Beal, the former Washington star, also scored 20 points for the Suns. Devin Booker added 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Tyus Jones had 16 points.
Kyle Kuzma recorded 30 points and 11 rebounds for Washington, which lost its 13th consecutive game. The Wizards are 0-5 on a six-game trip and are 1-20 on the road this season.
Jordan Poole had 19 points, 10 assists and a career-best six steals for the Wizards. Jonas Valanciunas scored 16 points, Bilal Coulibaly added 12 points and Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington had 11 apiece for Washington.
Beal buried a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 111-98 lead with 4:42 to play before the Wizards scored eight straight points — the last five by Kuzma — to move within five with 2:31 remaining.
Kuzma canned a 3-pointer to bring Washington within 113-109 with 1:57 left before Richards, Durant and Beal each made two free throws to make it a 10-point margin with 36 seconds left as the Suns closed it out.
Phoenix rookie Ryan Dunn exited just 1:49 into the game due to a sprained left ankle.
The Suns shot 44.4 percent from the field, including 13 of 40 from 3-point range. Durant made five 3-pointers and Beal hit four.
Washington made 46.7 percent of its attempts and made 18 of 41 from behind the arc. Kuzma and Poole each had five treys.
Phoenix had a 23-4 run in the opening quarter before taking a 35-24 lead into the second period.
Washington moved within six early in the second thanks to a 15-3 burst. But the Suns pushed their lead back into double digits and led 68-53 at the break.
Booker led Phoenix with 15 points in the first half, while Kuzma had 14 in the half for Washington.
Beal scored five straight points as the Suns took an 80-61 advantage with 7:37 remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Wizards scored 22 of the next 29 points and moved within 87-83 on a 3-pointer by Carrington with 2:28 left in the third quarter.
Durant responded with seven straight points to help Phoenix lead 96-85 entering the final stanza.
–Field Level Media
