MANILA – Phoenix Suns dominated the overtime period to shut down Cleveland Cavaliers with a 134-118 beating on Tuesday night at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Suns seemed headed to its first win in the Cavs homecourt since 2014, after snatching a 110-106 lead late in the game, but Cleveland came up with a late rally behind Isaac Okoro to force overtime.
Phoenix, however, opened the extension period with a 15-0 scoring blast from Mikal Bridges, Devin Booker, and Cameron Johnson for a 129-114 advantage and halted Cleveland’s onslaught.
Booker top-scored with 31 points while Paul added 23 points, 16 assists, and six rebounds as the Suns tied Utah Jazz on top of the Western Conference in the 2020-2021 NBA season with a 47-18 slate.
Finishing with 22 points, Bridges had five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and three blocks while DeAndre Ayton and Frank Kaminsky contributed 15 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Suns.
Charlotte Hornets (32-33), meanwhile, survived a late uprising by the Detroit Pistons (19-47) to score a 102-99 triumph and tightened its hold on the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Hornets were already ahead 100-95 in the fourth quarter following back-to-back hits by Terry Rozier, but the Pistons clawed their way back to tie the score, but Killian Hayes split his free throws.
LaMelo Ball drained two free throws to give Charlotte a 102-99 upperhand. Detroit wasted its opportunity to force overtime when Hayes misfired his triple shot.
Ball had 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists while Rozier and Caleb Martin made 18 and 17 markers, respectively, for the shorthanded Hornets.
In other results, Dallas Mavericks (37-28) overcame a flat start to defeat Miami Heat (35-31), 127-113; while Sacramento Kings (28-37) blazes past Oklahoma City Thunder (21-47) for a 103-99 win.
BOX SCORE:
PHOENIX 134 – Booker 31, Paul 23, Bridges 22, Ayton 15, Kaminsky 11, Craig 9, Saric 7, Johnson 7, Payne 6, Carter 3, Smith 0, Alexander 0.
CLEVELAND 118 – Okoro 32, Sexton 29, Allen 17, Osman 16, Love 7, Dotson 7, Kabengele 5, Wade 5, Martin 0, Thomas 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
30-24, 59-53, 90-88, 114-114, 134-118./PN
