Suns Strokes: Suns unable to hold lead, contain Westbrook in loss to OKC

PHOENIX — Another double-digit lead lost.

It happened at Portland, it happened at New Orleans and now it’s happened against Oklahoma City.

Three times in the past four games, the Phoenix Suns were poised for a victory only to be saddled with a loss.

Blame youth. Blame inexperience. And on Friday night, blame Russell Westbrook.

All eight of Westbrook’s fourth-quarter points came in the game’s final 90 seconds as the Thunder scored 10 unanswered points to beat the Suns, 124-116, in front of a sold-out crowd at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

The Suns (19-45) went the last 2:37 without a made field goal.

Meanwhile, Westbrook had 24 of his game-high 43 points in the second half as the Thunder overcame a 13-point deficit, using a 23-9 run between the third and fourth quarters.

Westbrook shot 16-of-25 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3-point range and 9-of-11 at the foul line. He just missed a triple-double with 14 rebounds and eight assists. He also had a steal and a blocked shot.

Paul George added 20 and Carmelo Anthony 14.

The Thunder (37-27) have won three straight and five of six.

Oklahoma City always seems to bring out the best in the Suns.

Devin Booker scored 39 on 16-of-28 shooting, plus he had six rebounds and eight assists.

Josh Jackson (19 points), T.J. Warren (19) and Elfrid Payton (18, 10 rebounds and eight assists) also stepped up their games, and the Suns nearly beat the Thunder for a fourth straight time.

Instead, it’s a loss, their 11th in 12 games.

THE GOOD

It was quite the start for Booker. He accounted for 21 of the Suns’ first 29 points. He scored 15 on 6-of-8 shooting, including a pair of 3s, plus had three assists. He also grabbed two rebounds. All in nine minutes of play. The Suns, by the way, finished the period with 37 points, setting a new season-high for first-quarter scoring, and led by five.

Playing a bit more point guard, Booker kept putting his teammates in position to score in the second quarter. He recorded five more assists — giving him eight in the first half — which accounted for 12 points. Twice, Booker found Jackson cutting to the basket for a dunk. There were also passes to Troy Daniels and Jared Dudley, each of whom made 3s.

Halftime did not slow down Booker. He scored the Suns’ first 11 points of the third quarter. He made a layup and then hit back-to-back-to-back 3s; the second of which gave him 4,000 career points, becoming the third-youngest player to reach the milestone. Only LeBron James and Kevin Durant were younger than Booker (21 years, 123 days).

The 39 points Booker finished with tied his career high at Talking Stick Resort Arena. In addition, this was his fourth straight 30-point game, becoming the first Suns player to accomplish such a streak since Amar’e Stoudemire did so in four straight games from Dec. 20-28, 2004. Over this stretch, Booker is averaging 35.8 points.

THE BAD

It was a near-perfect first half for the Suns with one minor exception: Fouls. They committed nine in the second quarter, putting the Thunder in the penalty at the 6:37 mark. Immediately, Oklahoma City took advantage. They scored five of their next seven points at the free-throw line and pulled to within five, 53-48, with 5:09 remaining in the period. Overall, the Thunder went 11-of-14 compared to the Suns’ 5-of-6 work at the foul line through the first two quarters.

The first whistle was for a loose-ball foul on Marquese Chriss. The second whistle was for a technical foul on Chriss, which by the way was his sixth of the season and he immediately was subbed out of the game. Westbrook made two of the three free throws to cap a 12-2 run and pull the visitors to within one, 92-91, at the 3:18 mark of the third quarter. The Thunder closed out the period on an 18-9 spurt. Westbrook finished with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting plus four free throws.

Down three with under a minute to play, the Suns twice stopped the Thunder only to see Westbrook grab the rebound following his own miss. Of Westbrook’s game-high 14 rebounds, seven came on the offensive end. Overall, the Thunder out-rebounded the Suns, 48-44. That and the free-throw discrepancy tell a lot of the story in this one. The Thunder made more foul shots (21) than the Suns attempted (18). Oklahoma finished 21-of-29 compared to the Suns 13-of-18 mark.

STAT OF THE GAME

27-17: The Suns were outscored 27-17 in the fourth quarter after scoring at least 30 points in each of the first three quarters

HE SAID IT

“I think we probably fatigued a little bit,” interim head coach Jay Triano said. “I don’t know if our guys are used to playing at that level for that long of a period of time, but that’s what we’ll get to. I liked our intensity and our concentration has to stay strong through that as well and that’s part of the growth.”

NOTED

Jackson had his third straight game with 19 or more points. Over these last three games, he is now averaging 22.7 points on 50 percent shooting.

Payton had his fourth double-double in his eighth game with the Suns; he is now averaging 17.1 points, 7.5 assists and 7.8 rebounds as a Sun.

Alex Len had a season-high six blocks, tying his career high, which he has now done four times, most recently on Feb. 23, 2015 against Boston.

Tyler Ulis was again a DNP-Coach’s Decision, that is now five consecutive games; he last played back on Feb. 14 on the road at the Utah Jazz.

Tyson Chandler didn’t play; he missed his sixth consecutive game and seventh in eight games overall as he continues to deal with a neck spasm.

Suns hosted “Decade Night” honoring their teams of the 2000s, featuring appearances by former players Shawn Marion and Amar’e Stoudemire.

As part of “Decade Night” the first 5,000 fans in attendance received an exclusive bobblehead featuring Suns Ring of Honor member Steve Nash.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Shelby Miller attended the game; both sat courtside.

Prior to tip-off, the Suns held a moment of silence to honor long-time Valley sports writer/reporter Joe Gilmartin who passed away on Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Another road trip.

Just back from a two-game, three-day trip, the Suns now head out on a four-game, seven-day visit to the eastern time zone. It begins with a stop in Atlanta to face the Hawks on Sunday, March 4. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

The three other stops include Miami, Oklahoma City and Charlotte.

In the first meeting with the Hawks, the Suns rallied from a 14-point deficit to win, 104-103, in Phoenix on Jan. 2. Booker scored a game-high 34 and had a team-high seven assists. It was a victory that was secured when Chriss blocked an alley-oop attempt in the closing seconds.

Overall, the Suns have won 13 of the last 20 meetings against the Hawks.

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