MANILA – Phoenix Suns cruised to a 99-90 victory in its National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs return against Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference’s first-round series at the Phoenix Suns Arena in Arizona, Sunday.
Devin Bookers scored 34 points and seven assists, while DeAndre Ayton had 21 points and 16 rebounds as the Suns won its first NBA Playoffs match after 11 years.
The team’s victory, however, was dampened by Chris Paul’s shoulder injury, where he managed to return but was obviously in pain. The 36-year-old guard ended the game with eight assists, seven points, and five rebounds.
Phoenix set the tone in the earlier round and was on top with 86-70 early in the fourth quarter via five consecutive points from Booker, but the Lakers rallied to trim the deficit to 86 -77 with approximately nine minutes left.
On the other hand, Booker and Ayton kept the Lakers at bay with their conversions to give the Suns a 99-87 lead on a two-pointer by Jae Crowder with over a minute left.
LeBron James dropped 18 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds, while Anthony Davis shot just five of 16 from the field and had 13 points for the defending champions Lakers.
Meanwhile, Trae Young drained a go-ahead basket to let Atlanta Hawks prevail over New York Knicks, 107-105, in Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoffs series.
With the score tied at 105-all after a layup by Knicks’ Derrick Rose, Young swung the lead to the Hawks as he scored a seven-foot jumper with 0.9 seconds left.
Young finished with 32 points and 10 assists, while Bogdan Bogdanovic fired four triples and ended up with 18 markers for the Hawks.
Philadelphia 76ers, for its part, started its East Conference first-round playoffs with a 125-118 Game 1 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Tobias Harris finished with NBA Playoffs-high 37 points, Joel Embiid added 30 markers, and Ben Simmons 15 rebounds and 15 assists to go along with six points for Philadelphia.
BOX SCORE:
PHOENIX 99 – Booker 34, Ayton 21, Bridges 10, Johnson 10, Crowder 8, Paul 7, Payne 5, Saric 4, Moore 0, Craig 0.
LOS ANGELES 90 – James 18, Schroder 14, Davis 13, Drummond 12, Harrell 12, Caruso 10, Caldwell-Pope 7, Matthews 2, Horton-Tucker 2, Kuzma 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
32-25, 53-45, 81-68, 99-90./PN
