Houston Rockets @ Phoenix Suns
Saturday, March 2, 2024 at 9:00 PM ET
Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ | Game ID: 22300870
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
PHX 19 25 35 30 109HOU 38 16 35 29 118
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Green, VanVleet lead Rockets past Suns, 118-109. Phoenix star Booker injures ankle
PHOENIX -- — Jalen Green scored 34 points, Fred VanVleet added 24 and the Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns 118-109 on Saturday night to split a two-game series.
“This is who we want to be every night,” said Green, who hit six 3-pointers.
Phoenix All-Star Devin Booker left late in the game because of a sprained right ankle when he stepped on teammate Royce O'Neale 's foot, while fellow Suns guard Bradley Beal was ejected in his return to the lineup after missing five games with a hamstring injury.
Suns coach Frank Vogel said Booker's X-rays were negative.
Beal missed more time after his ejection in the third quarter. He and Green got in a brief scuffle before they were separated. Beal was assessed two quick technicals and ejected while Green also got a technical.
Kevin Durant led the Suns with 30 points. Booker had 24 and O’Neale 20. Beal finished with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting.
“We fought, we battled back,” Vogel said. “We junked the game up like team's do to us sometimes. But it wasn't enough.”
Green shot 12 of 23 from the field, including 6 of 12 on 3-pointers. Alperen Sengun added 21 points and 10 rebounds.
The Rockets led for most of the game, but the Suns cut it to 99-98 midway through the fourth quarter on Josh Okogie 's layup. VanVleet responded with a 3-pointer to turn back the rally.
“It was good to see that fight, the physicality, I think we had that from the start,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “It was obviously night and day from last game, when we got off to a poor start. Tonight, we kind of jumped out on them.”
The Suns beat the Rockets 110-105 on Thursday and that game featured some chippiness, too, with Booker and Houston's Cam Whitmore getting into a minor altercation that ended with technical fouls for both players.
“It’s a good lesson,” Vogel said. “These little baseball series within the 82 game season. You beat a team one game, they're going to have the psychological advantage and come back hungrier."
The Rockets jumped out to a 38-19 lead after one quarter and led 54-44 at halftime. Green scored 17 points in the first half while VanVleet and Sengun — who was ejected Thursday after arguing with officials — added 13 before the break.
“Got to give Houston credit — they came out with a lot of urgency and they were able to cruise to a win,” Durant said.
The Suns had 11 turnovers in the first half and shot just 38.6% from the field. It was a rough night for the Suns on the injury front. Starting center Jusuf Nurkic left also left the game with a neck sprain while O'Neale also sprained his ankle in the collision with Booker.
Former Phoenix great Amare Stoudemire was inducted into the Suns' Ring of Honor at halftime. He played eight seasons with the Suns from 2002-10 and made five All-Star teams.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
CW C. Whitmore
DB D. Brooks
FV F. VanVleet
JG J. Green
JL J. Landale
JS J. Smith Jr.
JG Ja. Green
PHXBB B. Beal
BB B. Bol
DB D. Booker
DE D. Eubanks
GA G. Allen
JN J. Nurkić
JO J. Okogie
KD K. Durant
NU Nurkic
RO R. O'Neale
SL S. Lee
TM T. Maledon
TY T. Young
HOU/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