Indiana Pacers @ Phoenix Suns
Sunday, January 21, 2024 at 8:00 PM ET
Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ | Game ID: 22300604
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
PHX 33 32 26 26 117IND 25 36 22 27 110
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Kevin Durant scores 40 points, Suns hold off Pacers 117-110 for 5th straight victory
PHOENIX -- — The Big 3 is starting to become a reality for the Phoenix Suns . Now the wins are beginning to follow.
Kevin Durant scored 40 points, Devin Booker had 26 and the Suns beat the Indiana Pacers 117-110 on Sunday night for their fifth straight victory.
Bradley Beal added 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting for Phoenix, which led for most of the night and took a 91-83 advantage into the fourth quarter. It's the second straight game that the All-Star trio of Durant, Booker and Beal has combined for 91 points.
“I felt like they played us straight up,” Durant said. “And when teams do that, we're going to be aggressive.”
The Pacers made a few runs early in the final period, but Durant seemed to thwart every rally with another mid-range basket. The 35-year-old star made his first five shots of the fourth quarter.
Indiana has lost four of five. Buddy Hield led the Pacers with 18 points, and Pascal Siakam — acquired this week from Toronto — had 15 points and seven assists. All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton sat out for the sixth time in seven games because of a left hamstring strain.
Indiana used a 11-0 run to take a 105-103 lead on Hield's 3-pointer with 3:20 left, but Durant responded again, this time with a 3-pointer, and the Suns wouldn't trail again. Durant made 18 of 25 shots, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, putting together a big scoring night without taking a free throw.
“He's a very unusual problem,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I thought we fought him hard, had some good possessions on him, but his ability to rise up off the dribble and get complete clearance is special.”
Beal hit three baskets in the final 2:11 that were crucial in helping Phoenix keep the lead. Booker shot just 9 of 24 from the field, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range, but had a crucial steal with about 25 seconds remaining to seal it.
The Durant-Booker-Beal trio had a rough start to the season, mainly because of injuries. Beal missed most of the first few months with back and ankle injuries while Booker and Durant have also missed a handful of games.
But for the past few weeks, the roster has been whole. It's no coincidence that the team's in the midst of a five-game winning streak.
“It's the definition of pick your poison,” Booker said. “All of us coming in with an aggressive mindset, it'll be hard to stop us. Especially late game with the spacing out there.”
The Suns jumped out to a 33-25 lead after one quarter, shooting 62% from the field, and held a 65-61 advantage at halftime. Durant had 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
Indiana's Jalen Smith — who was drafted by the Suns in 2021 and part of the roster that made it to the NBA Finals — had 15 points and four rebounds against his former team.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
PHXBB B. Beal
CM C. Metu
DB D. Booker
DE D. Eubanks
EG E. Gordon
GA G. Allen
JN J. Nurkić
JO J. Okogie
KB K. Bates-Diop
KD K. Durant
NU Nurkic
INDAN A. Nembhard
AN A. Nesmith
BH B. Hield
BM B. Mathurin
BS B. Sheppard
JS J. Smith
JW J. Walker
MT M. Turner
OT O. Toppin
PS P. Siakam
TM T. McConnell
PHX/IND 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