Los Angeles—Devin Booker scored 33 points and Chris Paul did well to adjust on the fly for his 27 points and 14 assists as the Phoenix Suns won their seventh straight game with a 115-109 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Paul scored 15 of his season-high 27 in the fourth quarter after making adjustments to his playing style.
“In the first half, we had too many turnovers. I was trying to pass too much so I just started being aggressive,” the 36-year-old guard said.
Paul made his first five shots of the fourth quarter, including two baskets from beyond the arc on Monday night in Phoenix.
“Our staff always says to us ‘Let it fly. If you are open and got a shot, let it fly,” Paul said.
The Suns seized control with a 14-2 final quarter run after the short-handed Jazz grabbed a 95-91 lead early in the quarter.
Utah was missing all-stars Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley Jr. The Jazz lost for the eighth time in 11 games.
Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz with 22 points, including three straight threes in the final quarter.
Elsewhere, Darius Garland nailed a clutch three-pointer with 83 seconds remaining in regulation time as the Cleveland Cavaliers held on to beat the New York Knicks 95-93.
Kevin Love scored a team-high 20 points for the Cavaliers who led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter before the Knicks came storming back.
Rookie Evan Mobley finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Isaac Okoro had 14 points for Cleveland, who have won seven of eight and were coming off a hard-fought win over Oklahoma City on Saturday. Garland also had 13 points and 12 assists.
“I’ve tried to be one of the vets in his life to tell him what to do and what not to do,” Love said of Garland. “I’ve been telling him, keep leading us.”
‘Little things’
RJ Barrett scored 24 points and Julius Randle 18 for the Knicks, who have lost four of their last five games.
“I think we should have won the game,” Barrett said. “That’s for sure. It was just little things we can control that we’ve got to tighten up.”
The Knicks missed several chances in the final moments to take the lead. Randle came up short on a 38-foot three-point attempt at the buzzer.
“With the final one, they did a good job taking the corner away,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Julius wound up with a tough shot. Credit to their defense for the way they played us.”
In Oklahoma City, Nicola Vucevic had 26 points and 15 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls withstood a late comeback by the Oklahoma City Thunder to win 111-110.
The Bulls led by 28 points in the third quarter, but the Thunder engineered a fierce comeback and had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds.
Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led his team with 31 points, missed a three-pointer that would have evened the score with two seconds to play.
Rookie Ayo Dosunmu scored a season-high 24 points and Zach LaVine added 23 for the Bulls.
