:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/6QRRE7GX2VCB7KVYFDNZHOCKJQ.jpg "Devin Booker scores 30, Suns shine on the 3-point line and beat Hawks")
PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 30 points, Eric Gordon added 21 off the bench and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Atlanta Hawks 128-115 on Thursday night.
Phoenix prevailed largely thanks to its superiority in long shots: it made 22 of its 41 three-point attempts. Booker finished with six 3-pointers, while Gordon and Royce O’Neale had four each. Kevin Durant contributed 19 points and Grayson Allen 13.
Dejounte Murray scored 29 points for Atlanta, which has lost five of its last six games, and De’Andre Hunter had 22 points.
The Suns went into halftime with a five-point lead and started the fourth quarter up 96-93.
Phoenix’s scoring received a big boost midway through the fourth quarter when O’Neale, Gordon and Bol Bol capped off three consecutive possessions with three-pointers that made it 112-98.
The Hawks responded by getting within 115-110 with 5:24 left on the clock, but Durant responded with a basket that put his team back in danger.
Durant, who the day before became the eighth leading scorer in NBA history, broke another record on Thursday by making his 2,000th triple, the 16th he has achieved it.