Game Recap: Suns haunt Clippers with second-half scoring barrage, win 125-119

The Phoenix Suns put on an offensive clinic in the second half and stormed back for the win.

The Phoenix Suns put us through a whirlwind of emotions yet again. In honor of Halloween, they scared us early. Down by as many as 21 points, the Suns stormed back to secure a tough road win against a scrappy Clippers team.

One thing you know about a Ty Lue-coached team is that they are going to fight. The Clippers sure did tonight, but ran out of gas in the second of a back-to-back.

The Suns fought back and improved to 4-1 on the young season, completing their second straight large comeback against an LA team. Devin Booker led the way with 40 points in the road win. Both Royce O’Neale (21) and Ryan Dunn (16) had career-highs tonight. Phoenix scored 73 points in the second half.

Top Performers

• Devin Booker — 40 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 11-18 FG
• Kevin Durant — 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 7-13 FG
• Ryan Dunn — 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 6-12 FG
• Norman Powell — 23 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 9-21 FG
• James Harden — 25 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds, 8-19 FG

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images

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1st Half

The first quarter was a rough watch, there is no sugarcoating it. It was a spooky start. (sorry)

The Suns turned the ball over 4 times resulting in 8 points for the Clippers in the first quarter alone. Phoenix had zero points generated off their two forced turnovers.

Jusuf Nurkic struggled, picking up where he left off against the Lakers. It was not only him that didn’t show up early though, as the team shot just 36.4% from the floor in the opening quarter.

The Clippers took a 37-20 lead into the 2nd quarter. Durant led the Suns with 6 points.

Phoenix started the 2nd quarter on a 6-2 run to chip away at the lead. Booker got going offensively with multiple trips to the line and drilled a deep three. They pulled within 9 points leading to a Clippers timeout with 8:58 remaining in the half.

Ryan Dunn hit a trio of triples to bring Phoenix back within 11. He was shooting confidently and making the Clippers pay for leaving him open.

Norman Powell was cooking, continuing his torrid start offensively. James Harden had 10 assists in his first 14 minutes of action, carving up the Suns’ defense.

Mike Budenholzer went to Oso Ighodaro over Jusuf Nurkic after his first rough stint. The fact that he gave a rookie a look over Nurkic this early in the season says everything you need to know about where he’s at right now.

At the half, the Clippers led 70-52. Los Angeles shot 54% from the field while Phoenix hit just 40% of their attempts. Devin Booker and Norman Powell led all scorers with 15.

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images

2nd Half

The Suns showed some life early in the 3rd quarter, connecting on 4 straight attempts to open the quarter. The Clippers did too, but the difference is two of those were threes knocked down by the Suns.

Ty Lue signaled for a timeout leading by 17, but more of the same came after that with Phoenix cutting it down to 11. They hit their first 8 shots in the quarter and had it rolling offensively.

They hit their first 15 shots of the quarter before Grayson Allen finally missed on a three, ending a historic run. They were down by 21 points and came all the way back to tie the game at 89 apiece. It was a masterpiece.

The Clippers took a 93-91 lead into the final quarter.

Ryan Dunn hit another corner three and blew some kisses to the fans behind him. The forward rookie does not look like a rookie. The Suns’ ball movement was sharp, leading to several open looks in the corners, and they let them fly.

Kevin Durant had a pair of vicious blocks and the engagement from Booker on that end was encouraging. The Ryan Dunn effect? Royce O’Neale made some big plays down the stretch as well.

The Suns buttoned it up in the end with Devin Booker hitting several free throws to fend off the Clippers’ late run. 4-1. On to the next one.

Up Next?

The Suns will host the Blazers on Saturday at the Footprint Center.

Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images