Suns defeat the Raptors and avoid collapse
After upsetting the Toronto Raptors, the Phoenix Suns managed to avoid yet another possible collapse in the second half.
Phoenix: Despite many near-misses in the second half, the Phoenix Suns managed to overcome the Toronto Raptors 120-113 to improve to 37-26 on the year.
After losing their opening game of the season to Toronto, they are currently 4-4 heading into the All-Star break and have tied the season series at one game.
Grayson Allen scored twenty-one points and converted seven of his eight three-pointers (all of which were shot attempts) to give the Suns a 38-25 advantage. Toronto’s field goal percentage was just 9–25.
Nurkic finished the first half with twelve rebounds to help Phoenix maintain a 67-53 advantage heading into the locker room. Kevin Durant(11) was the only other Phoenix player in double figures with ten points, aside from Allen’s 26. The Suns outscored Toronto 15-0 in second-chance points, while Gary Trent Jr. led the Raptors in scoring with 16.
The Suns finally clawed their way to an 89-82 lead going into the final quarter of play, but the Raptors roared out of the gates in the second half and cut Phoenix’s lead to three. In the third quarter, Durant scored 16 points to keep Phoenix afloat; Beal was the only other player to score.
The Suns resumed their double-digit lead in the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run while Durant was sitting out. But the Raptors would not give up, consistently cutting Phoenix’s lead to about seven points in the last seconds of the game before the buzzer went off.
“A lot of coaches and teams say all the Lakers do is get to free-throw line,” James stated. That is the story that is being told. Well, we do have attackers, after all. We don’t make 40–50 threes in a game.”
James had 28 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block at the end of the game. He made three long-range goals.
