Booker scores 39 -- again -- to lead Suns over Spurs in Mexico City
P.J. Tucker hit two free throws with 4.6 second to play for the final points and Devin Booker scored 39 points, 10 in the final quarter, as the Phoenix Suns surged from behind and then outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 108-105 on Saturday at Mexico City Arena as part of the NBA Global Games series.
Danny Green missed a 3-pointer with 6.9 seconds remaining that would have given the Spurs the lead and Tucker calmly poured in two free throws to push the Phoenix advantage to 108-105.
Phoenix fouled Pau Gasol with 3.7 left to keep San Antonio from shooting a 3-pointer to have a chance to tie the game but Gasol missed both free throws and Dragan Bender corralled the rebound for the Suns.
It was Booker' second straight game with 39 points, following Thursday output in a loss to Dallas.
Eric Bledsoe added 17 points and 10 assists for the Suns (13-27). T.J. Warren hit for 12 points and Tyson Chandler grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds for Phoenix, which snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Spurs.
San Antonio got a career-high 38 points from Kawhi Leonard, who scored in double figures in his 72nd straight game. The San Antonio record is 75, set by Tim Duncan).
Manu Ginobili added 16 points for the Spurs (31-9) while Tony Parker and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 14 and 13 points, respectively. Gasol pulled down 10 rebounds.
The Spurs have scored 100 or more points in 18 straight games, their longest streak since 1995.
Phoenix led by as much as seven points in the early minutes and throughout the first half of the first quarter until two free throws by Ginolbil at the 6:33 mark tied the game at 13 and began a 6-0 run for San Antonio.
The Suns pulled even at 17 on a tip-in layup by Bledsoe a minute and a half later and Alex Len put Phoenix back in front on a dunk with 1:06 to play in the quarter. Parker's driving layup with 15 second to play tied the game at 25 at the end of 12 minutes of play.
Parker hit a 3-pointer and a layup in the first 30 seconds of the second quarter to lift San Antonio to the lead at 30-25 and a 3-poiner by Kyle Anderson at the 7:05 mark of the period sent the Spurs advantage to 10 points, at 44-34. Two free throws by Booker with 8.4 seconds to play in the half got the Suns back to within 58-51 at intermission.
Leonard led all scorers with 16 points in the first half while Parker had 11 for San Antonio. Bledsoe paced Phoenix with 14 points and Booker added 13 for the Suns.
NOTES: Phoenix made NBA history this week as the first team to play two regular-season games in Mexico in the same season. In their first game in Mexico City on Thursday, the Suns fell to the Dallas Mavericks 113-108. ... Suns G Devin Booker tied his career-high with 39 points in the loss to the Mavericks and set a franchise record for points in a quarter with 28 in the fourth period (Stephon Marbury, 26). ... The Suns defeated San Antonio 137-91 in Phoenix on April 15, 1989, with the 46-point loss is the largest margin of defeat in Spurs franchise history. ... Spurs G Manu Ginobili set a franchise record for most free throws made in game with 18 and most free throws without a miss in a game (18-18) at Phoenix on Jan. 29, 2009. Ginobili's career-high came against the Suns when he scored 48 points in a 128-123 overtime victory on Jan. 21, 2005. ... Former Spurs great George Gervin was originally drafted by Phoenix in the 1974 NBA Draft.