by Greg Heakes
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Phoenix guard Devin Booker scored 37 points as the Suns snapped an 18-game losing streak to the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a 115-111 victory on Sunday.
Golden State had no answer for Booker’s late charge as the American scored 13 consecutive points during a key fourth quarter stretch for the Suns.
The win ended the league’s longest active losing streak to one team, which dated back to November 2014. It was also the first road victory for the Suns in 20 games against a Western Conference opponent.
“We are getting challenged, we are getting teams’ best shots,” said Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.
Kevin Durant had 25 points for the mistake-prone Warriors before leaving with a bruised right ankle midway through the fourth quarter.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said after the game that the injury did not seem serious and that an MRI would likely not be needed.
“I think he’s going to be all right,” Kerr said. “He had an ankle contusion, but I don’t think it’s bad.”
Booker made all nine of his free throws and had 11 assists while Kelly Oubre scored 22 points for the Suns, who won their fourth game in the last five.
Booker hit a jump shot with five minutes to go in the fourth and then drained a three-pointer to make it 102-98 with 4:45 remaining.
Klay Thompson’s two free throws with 64 seconds to go brought the Warriors within three.
Andre Iguodala grabbed a rebound after two missed Suns shots but Curry missed on a three with 23 seconds left. Booker then converted two free throws.
Curry finished with 18 points on six-of-20 shooting and Thompson went 10 of 22 to finish with 28 points. Overall, the Warriors went a lowly 10 of 43 from beyond the arc.
Thompson called the game the “worst loss of the season” and criticized the Warriors’ fans, saying they are not cheering hard enough.
“I expect our crowd to go into it, too,” he said.
“It’s hard to conjure up energy …. so we expect our fans to kind of bring that from the jump. We need energy from them because we feed off it.”
Raptors rout Heat
Elsewhere, Kyle Lowry finished with 24 points and 10 assists as the Toronto Raptors snapped the Miami Heat’s win streak at four games with a 125-104 blowout victory.
Lowry drained six three pointers and Pascal Siakam added 20 points for the Raptors, who have swept all three meetings with the Heat this season.
Raptors star Kawhi Leonard did not play — the team did not give a specific reason but he is not believed to be hurt.
Danny Green and Norman Powell added 15 points each for Toronto, while OG Anunoby and Jeremy Lin each contributed 11 points.
Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. Veteran guard Dwyane Wade and Dion Waiters each had 15 points, while Rodney McGruder added 13.
The Raptors torched the Heat for 21 three-pointers, the most Miami has allowed in club history. Toronto also shot 57 percent from the field.
Elsewhere, Joel Embiid scored 33 points in his first game back after missing eight with a sore knee as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers, 106-89.
Embiid returned in style to record his league-best 49th double-double of the season as the Sixers snapped a two-game losing streak.
© Agence France-Presse
