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Phoenix Suns

Suns Defeat Jazz 140-137 in a Wild Double-Overtime Game

© Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Durant led the Phoenix Suns (7-6) to a crazy 140-137 victory over the Utah Jazz (4-9) in double overtime. Durant finished with 39 points and 10 assists in 46 minutes played.

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This was the 12th-straight game where Durant had at least 25 points.

The Jazz scrapped and clawed all game long to never let the Suns pull away, but ultimately after two overtime periods, Phoenix pulled it off. The game ended after a foul call against Durant on a contest on Lauri Markkanen was overturned, and it was ruled a clean block.

The Suns shot 102 shots in this game, while the Jazz shot an incredible 115 times. Phoenix shot 49% from the floor and Utah shot 41.7% on field goals. The reason the Jazz stayed in this game was because they had 27 offensive rebounds. The biggest offensive rebound was on a putback layup by Collin Sexton at the buzzer in the first overtime to send it to double overtime.

Devin Booker had 26 points, eight assists and five rebounds in 40 minutes, but wasn’t really aggressive in overtime due to having five fouls. Eric Gordon was huge in terms of scoring in overtime for Phoenix, finishing with 20 points, six assists and five rebounds. Jusuf Nurkić had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

As for the Jazz, Markkanen had a monster performance with 38 points and 17 rebounds. Talen Horton-Tucker added 25 points off the bench, while Jordan Clarkson had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

This was the second straight meeting between the two teams after the Suns defeated the Jazz 131-128 on Friday in an NBA In-Season Tournament Game. Overall, this was the Suns’ third-consecutive victory.

Yuta Watanabe (left quad contusion) was ruled out for the Suns this game, joining Bradley Beal and Damion Lee. Walker Kessler continued to be out for the Jazz.

The Suns will next play at home against the Blazers on Tuesday night in their third NBA In-Season Tournament game.

Here’s how all of the action unfolded tonight:

Starters

Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker, Eric Gordon, Grayson Allen, Kevin Durant, Jusuf Nurkić

Utah Jazz: Keyonte George, Jordan Clarkson, Ochai Agbaji, Lauri Markkanen, John Collins

First Quarter

The Jazz started off getting good looks right away and took an early 7-2 lead highlighted by two blocks less than two minutes into the game, forcing a Suns’ timeout. Phoenix did not look good on both sides of the ball, showing little to no effort.

Durant got on the board with a jumper out of the timeout. Suddenly, it was 9-9 after a layup by Grayson Allen and a nice assist from Booker to Gordon for a wide-open three with 8:58 to go in the quarter.

This opened up a 12-1 run which included seven points by Durant, and the Suns were up 16-10 with 7:17 left after a Booker dunk.

With Watanabe being out this game, Nassir Little checked in early for the Suns and swished home a three and then had a big-time dunk to put Phoenix up 21-13 with 6:19 remaining.

This game went back and forth for a few minutes, as the Suns kept the same rotation they had been doing. Phoenix led 28-19 with 2:41 to go in the quarter, as Booker checked back in for Durant. Booker had originally subbed out when Little came in.

After Booker came back, the Jazz went on a quick 6-0 spurt after an and-one by Collin Sexton and a three-pointer by Horton-Tucker. Booker then hit a runner, but Horton-Tucker connected on another three with 43 seconds in the quarter.

Kelly Olynyk tied up the game with a tip-in with four seconds left and Booker missed a three at the buzzer, making it a 11-2 run in total for Utah to end the first.

The Suns and Jazz both turned the ball over six times after Phoenix had nine total Friday, while Utah had eight.

Durant led Phoenix with seven points and three assists, but did have three turnovers, while Jusuf Nurkić had six points and three rebounds. Booker totaled four points and three assists.

The Jazz looked to get Markkanen rolling early, as he ended the quarter with seven points and three rebounds. Horton-Tucker led all scorers with eight points on 3-for-3 shooting.

Second Quarter

The sloppy play continued into the second for the Suns, as Booker had two early turnovers. However the Suns were able to jump out to a 43-37 lead with 8:40 left, as they could not miss their shots, while the Jazz were shooting poorly.

Phoenix started 6-for-6 from the floor, while Utah was 4-for-12 in this stretch. Durant missed the Suns’ first shot with 7:34 left in the quarter shortly after subbing back in.

The Suns continued to keep their foot on the gas, moving the ball beautifully and racking up the assists. Jordan Goodwin had three assists in the first six minutes he played in, as Phoenix led 49-41 with 6:16 left in the half. Goodwin was the only Suns’ player to have not scored at this point.

The lead was extended back to 10 after a fast break layup by Little assisted by Durant with 4:25 go.

Booker checked back in at the 3:45 mark with the Suns up 55-45.

On the first offensive possession, Booker had a dribble hand-off to Durant and set a screen for an all-net straightaway three by KD. Durant was starting to heat up with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting at this point.

Markkanen and Horton-Tucker were the only ones keeping Utah in the game, as they were getting easy looks throughout the first half.

The Jazz opened a 6-0 run in the last two minutes, taking advantage of a lot of sloppy turnovers by the Suns.

Phoenix still won the quarter 31-26 and shot a terrific 59% from the field. The Jazz shot only 11% from three.

Durant led the Suns with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists at the half. Nurkić and Allen chipped in eight points apiece. Booker only had four points for the Suns on 2-for-6 shooting, but did have five assists.

Markkanen had 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while Horton-Tucker had 18 points off the bench for the Jazz.

The Suns had 10 total turnovers, and Utah had eight. The Jazz also had 11 offensive rebounds and had 22 second-chance points compared to seven for the Suns.

Third Quarter

Booker continued to struggle from the floor to start the second.

Utah tied the game at 61 with 9:53 to go in the third after the Suns missed their first four shots. This number grew to five with Booker missing three of them before Durant had a nice turnaround jumper.

Booker finally made a shot with 8:19 left to give the Suns a 68-65 lead.

As for the Jazz, they looked to get Clarkson going after he only had four points on 1-for-7 shooting in the first half. He took six shots early, but only made two of them.

The Suns led 70-65 with 6:45 to go in the quarter after Booker made his second-straight bucket.

Right after this, Clarkson went on a personal 5-0 run after an and-one and then steal-and-score.

Durant struggled for the Suns in this quarter, going 1-for-4 to start after missing his last two shots in the second quarter. This game got pretty ugly in the third wwith a lot of turnovers and bad misses by both teams.

At the five minute mark, Phoenix led 73-70. The Jazz then took a 74-73 lead 30 seconds later after another Durant miss and two free throws from John Collins.

Booker checked back in for Durant with 2:34 to go, and the Suns trailing 77-75, as Durant did not make another field goal before he was subbed out. He started 7-of-10 from the field, but was 8-for-17 when he went to the bench.

The game was pretty much back-and-forth for the rest of the quarter, but a contested three by Booker gave the Suns a 85-84 lead heading into the final period.

Booker had 11 points in the third, but both teams shot around the 30% mark in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Booker had the first five points in the fourth quarter for the Suns, but the Jazz jumped out to an early lead.

It was all knotted at 90 after Booker made two free throws with 10:16 left. The Jazz continued to get second-chance opportunities, but weren’t cashing in.

Durant went in for Booker at the 8:54 mark with the same score.

The Jazz scored five quick unanswered points after more sloppy play and led 95-90 with 8:13 remaining. A Nassir Little corner three with 7:25 made it a two-point game, but Utah answered with a Markkanen corner three right away.

Durant continued to struggle, and the Jazz followed his second-straight miss to start the quarter with two free throws by Horton-Tucker to make it 103-95 with 6:06 to go.

Durant finally cashed a three after Little got his own rebound after a missed three and kicked it back out. Booker checked back in

After forcing a turnover, Durant had a nice left-handed layup past Markannen and over Collins to make it 103-100 Jazz with 5:12 left. Booker checked back in with 5:22 to go.

Nurkić was huge all night, as he missed a layup, but tipped it back in with 4:23 to get the Jazz lead back to three with 4:15 left. 105-102. This was his second time doing this in the matter of minutes and gave him a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

After another bucket by the Jazz, Durant found Nurkić for an easy layup with 3:48 left. Booker made it a one-point game with a layup after Phoenix finally got a stop. It was 107-106 Jazz with 3:18 remaining.

The Suns took their first lead since the beginning of the quarter after Markkanen went 1-for-2 from the line and Durant found Gordon for an easy corner three.

After another stop, Durant had another assist to Nurkić for an easy layup to make it 111-108 with 2:06 to go.

Clarkson made a goaltented layup, then Booker cashed in on  a mid-range jumper.

Collins tied it back up at 113 with a three with 1:22. Durant responded right away with a fadeaway jumpshot, and it was 115-113 Suns with 1:06 left.

the Suns forced a miss, but after the ball was knoccked out and originally ruled phoenix ball, it was overturned with 44 seconds left.

the Jazz missed again, but got the offensive rebound. Then, KD stuffed Clarkson’s three-point attempt, but it ended up right in the hands of Markkanen for an easy layup to tie the game at 115. The Jazz continued to get every loose ball it seemed like.

The Suns had the chance for the last shot with 20 seconds remaining. Despite having Keyonte George on him, Durant elected to give the ball to Booker who missed a contested three

First Overtime

Phoenix elected to go small in overtime, playing Bates-Diop and Durant in the frontcourt instead of Nurkić or Eubanks.

Eric Gordon dominated the start of OT for the Suns, scoring eight points in the first two minutes. Meanwhile, the Jazz only scored three as a team.

It was 123-118 Suns with 3:18 remaining.

The Suns still continued to get a lot of easy looks, but weren’t able to capitalize. They did not score for the next couple minutes, as Utah scored just one time of their own.

It was 123-120 Suns with a minute remaining.

George knocked down 1-for-2 from the line, and it was 123-121 Suns with 59 seconds left.

Then, Durant struck, hitting a contested three to put the Suns up five with 36 seconds remaining.

After two Clarkson free throws, the Suns had a chance to seal the game, starting the next possession with 31 seconds  left.

Gordon missed a triple with 10 seconds left, and Phoenix elected to foul Markkanen right away after a Utah timeout advanced the ball past halfcourt.

Markkanen knocked down both free throws to make it 126-125 Phoenix.

Booker then was fouled with eight seconds left, but Utah had a foul to give. They then fouled  Gordon with 7.6 seconds, and the veteran guard went 1-for-2.

Then, the Jazz missed a layup, but Collin Sexton followed it up with Utah’s 24th offensive rebound of the night and a putback at the buzzer.

We were headed to double overtime tied at 127.

Second Overtime

Utah fouled Durant on a three, and the superstar connected on all three free throws. Clarkson responded  with a three to tie it right back up at 130.

Durant extended the lead back to two after a midrange bucket. He then knocked home a three with 3:29 to go to give him his 39th point, and the Suns led 135-130.

After the Suns missed a few more good looks and the Jazz failed to connect despite multiple second-chance opportunities, Markkanen hit a mid-range jumped with 1:41 left to make it 135-132 Suns.

Phoenix then had a shot-clock violation, and the Jazz found Collins wide open for a corner three with 58 seconds to go to tie the game back up at 135.

Booker was double teamed out of the break, and he found Allen for a wide-open three with 43 seconds remaining.

Markkanen made an easy layup with 27 seconds left, and the Jazz elected not to foul on the next possession.

Durant then missed the dagger three, but the Suns got a long offensive rebound and kicked it out to Booker. Booker was fouled with 0.9 seconds left.

He made both free throws, and Utah called timeout.

They got the ball to Markkanen in the corner, and he missed badly, but Durant was called for a foul. Coach Frank Vogel and the Suns challenged it, and the officials overturned the call.

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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau

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