Game Recap: Suns survive Wizards comeback, win 130-123

The Valley gets back to .500, thanks to Booker’s 37.

The Phoenix Suns defeated the Washington Wizards 130-123 to improve to 20-20 on the season. Devin Booker led the Valley with 37 points, Durant chipped in 23, and Grayson Allen had 21. Ryan Dunn secured a new career-high with 18 points. The Valley is now 7-12 on the road.

While it looked like the team was cruising to an easy win up 21 heading into the fourth, the Wizards cut the lead to three in the final minutes, forcing Mike Budenholzer to play Devin Booker for extended minutes and put Kevin Durant back in the game after he was sitting earlier in the quarter. The schedule is slated to get more difficult with strong Eastern Conference teams upcoming for the squad, and in an opportunity to get some much-needed rest for its rotation players, the Suns could not put the now 6-33 Wizards away with ease.

The Valley was incredibly efficient tonight and won the rebounding battle 47-45 after losing 54-37 on the glass Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks. Despite the win, Phoenix still had 14 turnovers and, at times, just played sloppy, throwing errant passes and not getting back on defense, a significant reason why the Wizards were able to get back into the game and cut a once 21-point fourth quarter lead down to three.

Just like it’s been the case for the Suns all year, they were not able to put away their opponent.

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Game Flow

First Half

The Suns got off to a hot start, scoring the first 11 points of the game. Phoenix was incredibly efficient to start offensively and forced the Wizards to be inefficient. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker picked up where they left off last game, combining for 18 points in the first quarter, but Grayson Allen’s 10 points led the team. He capped the quarter off with a buzzer-beating floater.

Through 12 minutes, Phoenix led Washington 34-21.

Some lousy defense by the Suns allowed the Wizards to get within 6, but Grayson Allen kept the Valley’s lead intact. His 18 points in the half were his most in a half this season. Ryan Dunn had his career high for points in a quarter with 12. While they were cruising towards a win, Phoenix was playing with lackadaisical effort, which is why despite shooting 15% better than the Wizards did in the half, the Suns were up just 14.

Second Half

The Suns effort to start the second half was increased, helping them extend their lead to 22. As they started to run up the score, Phoenix’s fans in the arena were making their presence heard, and Suns twitter was able to enjoy a rare moment of strong effort.

Going into the fourth up 104-83, it looked like the Suns were about to run away with the game until the Wizards went on a 12-0 run to cut the Phoenix lead down to three. While they were able to secure the victory, like many Suns wins, it was closer than it should have been. Devin Booker played extended fourth quarter minutes, and Kevin Durant had to come back in to close the game after he started the first part of the fourth on the bench.

It’s usually been the third quarter for the Suns meltdowns this season, but today it was the fourth. It didn’t cost them the win, but added unneeded pressure in a game that appeared already decided.

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Up Next

Phoenix will head to Michigan to play the Detroit Pistons, where recent acquisition Nick Richards is expected to make his debut with the Valley.