Booker’s 40 points matched his season high. Grayson Allen and Jordan Goodwin both had 14 points. Kevin Durant was forced to withdraw owing to foot pain.
The Phoenix Suns upset the Memphis Grizzlies 110-89 in an NBA In-Season Tournament game on Friday, with Devin Booker scoring a season-high 40 points and Eric Gordon adding 20.
Jordan Goodwin and Grayson Allen each had 14 points for the Suns, who were missing their best scorer Kevin Durant, who was a late scratch due to right foot pain. It was the Suns’ sixth straight victory, dating back to when Booker returned from a calf ailment.
“It’s tough,” Booker said of Durant’s absence. “What he brings to the court cannot be replaced.” His capacity to score. His defensive versatility. It will require a lot of extra effort from everyone else.”
Memphis was led by Santi Aldama’s 21 points, while Derrick Rose scored 17 points while missing only one of his nine shots. The Grizzlies dropped their third game in a row and remain winless at home this season, despite 14 points from David Roddy.
Phoenix improved to 3-1 in the competition, one game behind the Lakers, who won West Group A with a 4-0 record. The Suns must now wait to watch how the other West teams perform to see who qualifies for the tournament’s wild-card slot.
On Friday, Phoenix led by as many as 18. Memphis trimmed the Suns’ lead to single digits in the second half, but the Suns always appeared to have a response. In the fourth quarter, Goodwin scored eight consecutive Suns points to put the Grizzlies at bay.
“He was great,” said Suns coach Frank Vogel of Goodwin. “This year has been full of ups and downs for him. We’ve challenged him to improve on both sides of the ball.He has struggled with his shot-making at times. So seeing it all come together for him was a fantastic night.”
Memphis is 0-7 at home and will have to wait another ten games for the return of last year’s leading scorer Ja Morant, who is serving a 25-game ban.
The Grizzlies’ injury list, which includes six rotation players, is so bad that the NBA granted them a pair of 10-day hardship contracts to sign guards Shaq Harrison and Jaylen Nowell. These signings were made public earlier on Friday. Nowell and Harrison saw limited action on Friday, and neither scored.
And the absences exacerbate the issues, particularly on a night when Memphis’ two biggest scorers — Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. — combined for only 19 points, six from Bane, who went 3 of 12 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, and 13 from Jackson.
“We just need to be more on the same page,” Jackson explained. “When you’re down bodies, everything becomes a lot more important.” You cannot make little mistakes. You can’t make minor mistakes that you could get away with if you had every single person armed to the teeth.”
In addition to Durant, crucial Suns rotation players Bradley Beal and Drew Eubanks were absent.
The Suns, on the other hand, had Booker, who finished the game 15 of 21 from the field, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
“The guy’s just a professional scorer,” Vogel explained. “He is a big reason we are having this six-game win streak.”