Hornets at Suns
The Phoenix Suns looked like they were headed for another fourth-quarter disappointment before Devin Booker came through in the clutch on Friday. The Suns will try to make it a little easier on themselves and earn back-to-back victories when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
Phoenix squandered double-digit leads in home losses to Memphis and Sacramento and was down four with under a minute left against the Orlando Magic on Friday before Booker knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and the Suns scored the final eight points of the contest in a 98-94 triumph. "Heart and determination," Booker told reporters. "Obviously, we have been struggling of recent. We wanted to get a big win. We had two hard days of practice. We talked to each other about it, came out here and got a tough win against a really good team. I am proud of the way we played." The Hornets are losers of three in a row and nine of 11 after beginning the four-game road trip with a 109-92 setback at Utah on Friday. "We just have to regroup, get back together and go get one in Phoenix," Charlotte coach James Borrego told reporters.
TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: FS Southeast, FS Arizona, NBA TV Canada
ABOUT THE HORNETS (15-26): The bright spot for Charlotte of late is point guard Terry Rozier, who extended a career-best streak of 20-plus performances to five in a row when he went for 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting in Utah. "(Rozier) looks comfortable out there," Borrego told reporters. "He's getting to his spots and creating a lot of offense for us. He's got to stick with it. I think he's growing, and I see maturity every single game." Rozier is averaging 27.4 points on 51.1 percent shooting over the last five games and knocked down at least three 3-pointers in each of those contests.
ABOUT THE SUNS (15-23): Phoenix recorded season bests in opponent scoring (94) and opponent field-goal percentage (37.1) in Friday's triumph. "The mental stamina of this team is improving," Suns coach Monty Williams told reporters. "I can sit here and rail on some of our coverages, but I am sure (Magic coach Steve Clifford) could do the same thing. ... To hold a team under 100 points, anytime you do that in this league, you feel good about your defense." Booker had a string of seven straight games scoring at least 30 points come to an end with 24 on Friday but still paces the team in scoring (26.2 points) and field-goal percentage (50.9).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Suns SF Kelly Oubre Jr. is averaging 22.9 points over the last seven games.
2. Hornets C Willy Hernangomez scored a season-high 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting in 10 minutes on Friday.
3. Phoenix earned a 109-104 victory at Charlotte on Dec. 2 behind 23 points apiece from Booker and Oubre Jr.