Miami Heat @ Phoenix Suns
Friday, January 5, 2024 at 9:00 PM ET
Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ | Game ID: 22300489
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
PHX 33 29 32 19 113MIA 29 26 20 22 97
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Grayson Allen ties Phoenix record with career-high 9 3-pointers, Suns beat Heat 113-97
PHOENIX -- — Grayson Allen is usually an afterthought for the opposing team, which makes some sense considering there are other Phoenix Suns to worry about like All-Star shooters Devin Booker and Bradley Beal .
The Miami Heat might pay a little more attention to him next time.
Allen made a career-high nine 3-pointers to tie the Phoenix record and scored 31 points, Beal added 25 points and the Suns beat the Heat 113-97 on Friday night.
“He's just in the flow," Booker said about Allen. "He makes it look easy. It's not complicated. He's shooting open shots and when people try to run him off (the 3-point line), he makes the right play. I think teams are going to realize that helping off him is not the option.”
The Suns have won five of their last six games. Miami has dropped three of four.
Allen was sensational in the first half, scoring 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting from long range. The sixth-year player out of Duke was acquired in an offseason trade and came into the game averaging a career-high 13 points while shooting about 46% from beyond the arc.
He was 9 of 14 on 3s and 11 of 19 overall from the field on Friday. It's his second high-scoring game in the past few weeks — he scored a season-high 32 in a loss against the Mavericks on Christmas night.
“We have such an unselfish group," Allen said. “I don't get up 14 3-pointers if Booker and Brad aren't making the extra pass all night long, sticking with it and not getting frustrated that they're not able to drive. I'm really grateful to play with guys like that.”
Phoenix extended its lead to 94-75 heading into the fourth quarter and kept a double-digit advantage the rest of the night. Beal shot 11 of 18 from the field and added eight rebounds and nine assists. Booker had 20 points and 10 assists.
Bam Adebayo led Miami with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Love added 20 points. Tyler Herro had a tough night, shooting just 4 of 17. The Heat shot just 41% from the field.
“We were making the right plays,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “A lot of those were wide-open 3s. It's the right play and I'm encouraged that we continued to do that despite the misses. But on the other side of the floor, we were never able to control the game defensively and get it in the mud.”
The Suns played without Kevin Durant , who missed his third straight game because if tightness in his right hamstring. Miami’s Jimmy Butler (foot) was also out for the sixth time in seven games.
“Defensively, probably our best game-plan execution of the year,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “That team’s very difficult to guard, even with Butler out.”
Allen's big scoring night helped the Suns push ahead 62-55 by halftime. Booker scored 16 points and Beal added 13 in the half.
Allen became the sixth player in Suns history to make nine 3s in a game. The others are Landry Shamet , Cam Johnson, Aron Baynes, Channing Frye and Quentin Richardson. Rex Chapman made nine 3s for the Suns in a playoff game.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
MIABA B. Adebayo
CS C. Swider
DR D. Robinson
JC J. Cain
JJ J. Jaquez Jr.
JR J. Richardson
JO Jovic
KL K. Love
KL K. Lowry
NJ N. Jović
RH R. Hampton
TB T. Bryant
TH T. Herro
PHXBB B. Beal
BB B. Bol
CM C. Metu
DB D. Booker
DE D. Eubanks
GA G. Allen
JG J. Goodwin
JN J. Nurkić
JO J. Okogie
KB K. Bates-Diop
NU Nurkic
SL S. Lee
YW Y. Watanabe
MIA/PHX the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur