Game Recap: Beal ejected, Booker and Nurkic injured in 118-109 loss to Houston

The Phoenix Suns, for the final time this season (and the third time in four games), faced the Houston Rockets on Saturday night in downtown Phoenix. The teams split the season series as the Suns fall, 118-109.

Bradley Beal, who has missed the last five games for Phoenix, returned on Saturday night. His return was shortlived, however, as he was ejected in the third quarter after getting into a shoving match with Jalen Green. He played 20 minutes, had 7 points, and a pair of rebounds and assists.

Jusuf Nurkic missed the second half after being accidentally hit in the face by Josh Okogie, listed as out with neck spasms. And with under two minutes in the game, Devin Booker tweaked his right ankle and immediately went to the locker room.

Jalen Green dropped 34 points on the Suns and Fred VanVleet had 24 points and 11 assists. Phoenix turned the ball over 19 times and shot 31% from deep.

On a celebratory night, as the Suns welcomed Amare Stoudemire to their Ring of Honor, Phoenix was once again embarrassed. the win snapped a 9-game road losing streak for the Rockets.

---

Game Flow

First Half

Houston came out attacking the paint drawing early fouls and getting to the line as they dictated their pace. They raced out to an early 6-point lead. Jalen Green, who scored 34 points in Houston’s loss to Phoenix on Thursday, picked up where he left off as he scored a quick 8 points for the Rockets.

Booker had 35 points on Thursday, and much akin to Green, was still feeling it. He had 7 of the Suns’ first 11.

Phoenix found themselves down 10 points following a hot start by Houston from beyond the arc. The Rockets are the 28th in the NBA in three-point shooting, but they started 4-of-6 from deep. The Suns, conversely, started 1-of-8.

Four Phoenix turnovers didn’t help either, nor was permitting 7 fast break points in the first 8 minutes of the game. A 16-0 run extended the Rockets lead to 20 points.

Phoenix shot 34.6% from the field and 11.1% from deep in the opening quarter. The Rockets had 10 assists on 14 makes and doubled the Suns up, 38-19.

The turnovers kept flowing to open the second as the Suns simply could not hold on to the ball. A KD cough up here, a bad Beal pass there. Contending teams can’t be as loose with the ball or unaware of their surroundings.

Luckily for Phoenix, Houston was not converting on the other end, which allowed them to stay in the game. A 7-0 closer the lead down to 13 points.

Houston shot 2-of-11 through the first 7 minutes of the quarter, and with 4 turnovers of their own, Phoenix closed the lead to 4 points as a part of a 10-0 run.

Jusuf Nurkic went to the locker room after taking some friendly fire across his face from teammate Josh Okogie. This forced the Suns to play small ball to end the period.

Phoenix missed numerous buckets, including a dunk by KD, at the rim and thus opportunities to chip into the Rocket lead. The Suns held the Rockets to 16 points in the second, but at the half, they still trailed by 10 points, 54-44.

Second Half

After a long overdue halftime ceremony in which Amare Stoudemire’s number 32 was put into the Suns Ring of Honor, the game resumed.

Nurkic, who took a shot to the face in the first half, did not return to the game. He left with 7 points and 10 rebounds. The Suns listed him as out with neck spasms. Drew Eubanks replaced him in the lineup.

Durant opened with a pair of electric slam dunks, perhaps atoning for easy missed shots in the first half. 6 early KD points had you feeling like Phoenix was about to close the gap, but Houston was in rhythm on the offensive end.

The Rockets opened the third quarter the same way they opened the first, by knocking down three-pointer after three-pointer. Jalen Green was once again a problem for the Suns, and back-to-back three-pointers forced Frank Vogel to call an early time out as the team trailed by 15 points.

Composure is something that I noted in the preview that needed to be executed by Phoenix. This is the third time in four games in which you’ve played this team. There is a chance for frustrations to boil, as we saw between Devin Booker and Cam Whitmore last game. Tonight, Jalen Green and Bradley Beal got into it following an inbound pass.

Beal was ejected as a result and Jalen Green was assessed a technical.

Royce O’Neale entered the game as a result and made his impact felt on both ends. 5 quick points coupled with pesky defense that caused two Rocket turnovers. He cut the lead to four points after hitting his second three-pointer of the third but was hit with a technical foul for words exchanged with Fred VanVleet.

Two quick threes by the Rockets and the Suns were down 11 again.

FVV and Sengun were effective in shutting down any runs the Suns would go on. Through three quarters, VanVleet had 21 points and was 5-of-9 from deep. Sengun had 17 points and 7 rebounds.

Both teams scored 35 points in the third, and the Suns entered the fourth down 89-79.

Royce O’Neale continued his hot shooting, hitting a pair of three’s early in the fourth. His total made three-pointers matched the rest of his teams to that point.

The Suns closed the Rocket lead to three points following a 7-0 run with 8 minutes left in the game.

Phoenix opted to deploy a zone look against the Rockets to attempt to fluster and annoy, and it did the trick. Empty possessions allowed the Suns to get within one point, 99-98.

The Rockets responded to every run as FVV hit a three and Jalen Green executed a transition dunk. They responded with a 14-4 run.

Phoenix had a few micro-runs here and there, but it all was too little, too late. To add to the insult, Devin Booker went down with an ankle injury with under two minutes left in the game. He immediately limped off to the locker room.

Suns lose, 118-109.

---

Up Next

The Suns play again tomorrow night, this time welcoming the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC holds a 41-18 record and is the second overall seed in the Western Conference. The Suns injury report should be interesting.

We’ll see you tomorrow night.