Booker shines as Suns hold off late rally by Bulls

LOS ANGELES – Devin Booker scored a team-high 38 points as the Phoenix Suns won for the 13th time in the last 14 games with a 127-124 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday (Tuesday, Manila time).

Booker shot 14-of-23 from the floor and Paul finished with 19 points and 11 assists Phoenix, while Crowder had 10 points,  grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out six assists for the NBA-best Suns. 

Booker has now scored 30 plus points in five of the last eight games for the Suns, who led by as many as 27 points in front of the crowd of 20,600 at the United Center arena. 

"We play together as a team and get it done every night," said Booker. "We have been through it. We had a deep playoff run last year and we keep getting better."

Phoenix shot 54.4% compared to 47.8 shooting by Chicago, who lost for the second time in as many days while permitting 115-plus points for the seventh straight game. 

DeMar DeRozan paced the Bulls attack with 38 points, while Zach LaVine returned from a back injury to tally 32 points. JaVale McGee (16 points), Mikal Bridges (15) and Deandre Ayton (13) also scored in double figures for the Bulls, who have lost three of their last four contests. 

DeRozan converted a three-point play to cut the Suns' advantage to nine points with just under six minutes remaining. But the Suns answered with five points in the next 40 seconds to regain control as the Bulls' made a late run but fell short. 

"The most important thing down the stretch was getting stops on defense," said Booker.

Phoenix has now won four straight games over the Bulls, including two wins last season.

Elsewhere, Klay Thompson scored 21 points and the Golden State Warriors won their ninth consecutive game by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-98.

Stephen Curry added 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Warriors, who shot 50% from the field.

Lu Dort scored 26 points and Darius Bazley tied a season high with 20 for Oklahoma City. Josh Giddey added 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Thompson nailed two 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter to thwart a Thunder rally and give Golden State a commanding nine-point lead. 

Also, Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent each scored 24 points as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Charlotte Hornets 116-101.

"I am just trying to calm everybody down when it gets crazy out there. Kudos to the team for staying with it," Siakam said.