ORLANDO – The Devin Booker show came to the Kia Center in Orlando and did not disappoint with a 44-point masterpiece.
But the Orlando Magic rallied behind the 26 points of Paolo Banchero to beat the All-Star-studded Phoenix Suns, 113-98, on Sunday night,
On top of Booker’s 44 points, the Suns also got 15 from Kevin Durant and combined 18 from Bradley Beal and Eric Gordon.
All of that production, however, went for naught as the Suns turned cold in an exciting fourth quarter where the Magic went on a 31-13 spree, holding the Suns to 10 points in the last 10 minutes.
“A lot of teams aren’t built the way they are. They’re a massive team,” Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said, referring to the size of a Magic team that clamped his team down. “You can attack them if you do it the right way. We didn’t do it well enough or handle their pressure well enough tonight.”
Booker swished 17 of 26 field goals including a 1-of-2 fare from 3. He also hit 9 of 11 free throws. But he was held to only two points in the fourth quarter.
“They were playing a physical game the whole game,” said Booker, “I think after the start we had they just reverted to being extra physical and hoping they can’t call every foul.”
The Suns shot 5-for-18 with seven turnovers in a 13-point fourth quarter. And that was the difference in an otherwise close game. The Suns’ 23 turnover also didn’t help.
Phoenix shot a blistering 56.2 percent from the field (41-of-73) but the Suns had an unhatacteristically low 14 three-point attempts, making only four.
Orlando, meanwhile, sank 12 of 36 treys.
