Devin Booker’s 41 points power Suns past Bulls

Devin Booker scored 41 points, including 33 after halftime, as the Phoenix Suns beat the visiting Chicago Bulls 127-121 on Wednesday.Kevin Durant added 26 points and Ryan Dunn contributed 16 as Pho

Devin Booker’s 41 points power Suns past Bulls

Devin Booker scored 41 points, including 33 after halftime, as the Phoenix Suns beat the visiting Chicago Bulls 127-121 on Wednesday.

Kevin Durant added 26 points and Ryan Dunn contributed 16 as Phoenix (33-37) moved past the Dallas Mavericks into 10th position in the race for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.

Nikola Vucevic and Coby White both posted 24 points for Chicago, and Josh Giddey had 22 off the bench in his return from a three-game absence with an ankle injury.

A blowout loomed when Booker banked a step-back 3-pointer to have the Suns out 117-99, before the Bulls turned up the defensive pressure and fought to the finish line.

White’s pull-up three capped an 8-0 burst and trimmed Phoenix’s lead to 121-117 with 27 seconds remaining.

The two sides traded late buckets before Cody Martin’s steal off White led to a Booker lay-up and sealed victory for Phoenix.

The home side outscored Chicago 26-9 on second-chance points and 23-10 off turnovers.

The tone was set early as Chicago coughed up six first-quarter turnovers, enabling Phoenix to use separate 14-2 and 10-0 runs to march to a 31-22 after the opening period.

The Bulls trimmed the margin to 38-35 thanks to a 9-0 burst in the second frame, highlighted by Matas Buzelis’ athletic alley-oop slam from a Trey Jones lob and Zach Collins’ rejection of Martin’s attempted dunk.

But the Suns hit back through Durant and Richards and held sway 63-51 on Colin Gillespie’s coast-to-coast lay-up on the half-time buzzer.

Phoenix was feasting on Chicago turnovers, holding a 17-0 advantage in points off turnovers at the half.

Booker and Dunn had the Suns firing after intermission and the margin ballooned to 87-66 on Nick Richards’ driving dunk.

White did his best to haul the Bulls back, but Phoenix’s 12-5 edge on the boards for the period, including 5-0 on the offensive glass, meant the Suns still led 99-84 with a quarter to play.

Booker piled on Phoenix’s first nine points of the fourth frame and finished with 20 for the quarter.

End.