De’Aaron Fox scored 23 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, Domantas Sabonis added 15 points with 17 rebounds and the visiting Sacramento Kings rebounded after getting eliminated from the NBA in-season tournament with a 114-106 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Sasha Vezenkov scored 14 points while Malik Monk and Keegan Murray each had 13 for the Kings, who fell to the New Orleans Pelicans in the quarterfinals of the tournament Monday.
Devin Booker scored 28 points for the short-handed Suns, while Eric Gordon added 19 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 15 points with nine rebounds. The Suns were eliminated from the tournament by the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
The Suns played without star Kevin Durant after he tweaked his ankle late in Tuesday’s loss to the Lakers. Grayson Allen (groin) also was out. Phoenix’ Nassir Little played just four minutes and left for the remainder of the game to be evaluated for a concussion.
The Suns also continue to wait for the return of Bradley Beal (back), who has played just three games and has yet to play with Durant and Booker this season.
Phoenix led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter and was up 65-64 with 5:42 remaining in the period when Sacramento went on a 19-6 run to hold an 83-71 lead at the start of the fourth. Booker was held scoreless in the third, while the Suns scored 12 total points.
The Suns were within 96-90 with 6:28 to play after Booker split two free throws. Nurkic then committed a flagrant foul that led to two free throws and a 3-pointer from Fox, who added another basket 29 seconds later for a 103-92 Sacramento lead with 5:32 left.
The Kings never let the Suns within seven points the rest of the way, with Fox putting the game out of reach on a 3-pointer with 1:44 remaining for a 112-98 lead.
The Suns led 26-24 after one quarter, and they closed the second quarter on a 12-3 run to lead 59-50 at the break.
–Field Level Media