Booker scores 34, Suns never trail in defeating Jazz 114-106

PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 34 points and the Phoenix Suns never trailed in a 114-106 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday.

Booker had 22 points in the first half on 7-of-8 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. He finished 12 for 20 overall and 6 for 12 from behind the arc.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points for the Suns, who led by as many as 16 points but struggled to put away the Jazz, who dropped their third in a row, until the fourth quarter. Grayson Allen had 14 points, nine in the final period.

The Suns have won three of four since coach Mike Budenholzer reorganized the Suns' rotation with Bradley Beal coming off the bench. Ryan Dunn moved into the Suns' lineup at forward.

Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz with 24 points and Collin Sexton had 20.

The Suns beat the Jazz for the third time this season. Walker Kessler had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Utah, and former Sun Drew Eubanks also had 11 rebounds.

Takeaways

Jazz: Played without regulars Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George and John Collins, but still got contributions from reserves Svi Mykhailiuk and Cody Williams with 13 points apiece.

Suns: Beal had his lowest output since moving into a reserve role, scoring 12 points in 31 minutes. He's still averaging more than 30 minutes in the four games coming off the bench.

Key moment

Allen hit his only 3-pointer of the game early in the fourth quarter to make it a six-point Suns lead and they pulled away after that.

Key stat

Mason Plumlee scored the first five Suns points (six for the game) and finished with 10 rebounds, starting in place of Jusuf Nurkic, who did not play for the second straight game after serving a three-game suspension.

Up next

Both play Sunday. Utah hosts Brooklyn and Phoenix hosts Charlotte.

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