The Phoenix Suns moved to 38-27 on the season after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers by 115-111 on Monday. Phoenix has now won three of its last four games.
Looking to capitalize on a Cavs squad without six players, most notably Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland led the first half, leading by as many as 19 in the opening two frames before leading 70-63 at halftime.
However, the Suns fought back, regaining the lead in the middle of the third quarter and eventually holding off a tenacious Cavaliers team headed by Darius Garland, who scored 30 points on 10-17 shooting from the field.
Drew Eubanks finished the game for Jusuf Nurkic at center, but no explanation was provided for why the Bosnian Beast was sighted sitting on the bench rather than on the court.
Phoenix keeps the Western Conference’s No. 6 seed courtesy to another spectacular performance from Kevin Durant, who scored 37 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.
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Devin Booker, who returned from a four-game hiatus, posted a 27-6-7 record after recovering from a sprained ankle. Bradley Beal scored 24 points, grabbed five rebounds, and assisted four times.
That was about it for Phoenix’s major contributions; Nurkic had nine points and eight rebounds, while Grayson Allen had 14 points on 4-5 shooting from outside.
Phoenix’s four-deep bench scored six points. Royce O’Neale and Bol Bol combined for 0 buckets in 39 minutes together.
Despite their victory, the Suns will want to improve team figures such as free throw percentage (68.4%) and turnovers (14) as they prepare for their Thursday night game against Boston in game two of a four-game road series.
Phoenix had earlier canceled their Saturday home game against the Celtics due to Booker’s absence.