NBA: Devin Booker, Kevin Durant power Suns past Cavs

Devin Booker recorded 40 points and eight assists and Kevin Durant added 32 points, seven assists and six rebounds as the Phoenix Suns cruised to a 122-101 victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Royce O’Neale had 17 points and Bol Bol scored 15 points off the bench as the Suns (45-31) moved into the sixth and last automatic playoff spot in the Western Conference. Phoenix is tied with New Orleans but holds the tiebreaker edge after beating the Pelicans on Monday.

Booker has scored 92 points on 32-of-53 shooting over the past two games. He poured in 52 points against New Orleans. Booker and O’Neale each made five 3-pointers Wednesday as the Suns won for the 10th time in their past 15 games.

Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points, Evan Mobley had 20 points and nine rebounds and Jarrett Allen also scored 20 points for the Cavaliers (46-31), who have dropped six of their past nine games. Darius Garland had 15 points and eight assists as Cleveland fell to 1-2 on a five-game road trip.

The Cavaliers reside in third place in the Eastern Conference. They are a half-game ahead of the Orlando Magic and a full game in front of the New York Knicks.

Cleveland began the fourth quarter with eight straight points to move within 98-85. But the Suns responded with a 9-2 push, ending on Durant’s 3-pointer, to get the lead back to 20 with 7:41 remaining.

The Cavaliers later crept within 13 points before O’Neale and Booker knocked down 3-pointers to make it 120-101 with 1:37 left. Booker’s trey got him to the 40-point mark and he exited the game at that point.

Phoenix shot 50.6 percent from the floor while playing without Grayson Allen (hip).

The Cavaliers knocked down 47 percent of their attempts and were 7-of-26 from behind the arc. Max Strus had nine points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Cleveland.

Durant hit a jumper to cap a 14-2 burst in the second quarter as Phoenix led 56-30 with 5:24 left in the half. The Suns led by 28 later in the period before holding a 72-47 halftime advantage.

Booker scored 19 in the half and Durant added 17.

Cleveland erupted on a 19-3 run in the third to move within 77-66 on Jarrett Allen’s layup with 6:59 left in the third quarter.

However, Phoenix answered with a 19-4 surge with Bol finishing it with a trey to make it 96-70 with 57.2 seconds left.

The Suns led 98-77 entering the final stanza.

–Field Level Media/Reuters