Suns remain undefeated in bubble with win over Miami Heat

Five games in, the Phoenix Suns are still undefeated.

Phoenix took down the Miami Heat 119-112 on Saturday night behind Devin Booker’s 35 points and Jevon Carter’s 20 off the bench.

With the win, the Suns move just half a game behind ninth-place Portland Trail Blazers for a spot in the play-in game.

The Suns had a two-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Devin Booker came out of the game. Over the next five minutes, Phoenix managed to hold onto the lead, going up 97-94 by the time the star re-entered with 7:00 to go.

Booker didn’t score over the next six minutes, instead playing facilitator by dishing a pair of assists.

Then, over the final minute, Booker closed it out.

He drained a deep two with his foot on the 3-point line with 50 seconds left to extend the lead to six, and then iced the game with a driving, left-handed layup that center Bam Adebayo was called for goaltending on to give the Suns a five-point lead with 12 seconds to go.

Goaltend or not? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/qkFHbxDaTC

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 9, 2020

In a game that Mikal Bridges and Ricky Rubio struggled to score and Deandre Ayton played poorly overall, Jevon Carter came up big off the bench.

Carter led the charge when Booker was out, scoring 20 points with six 3-pointers.

He also had one of the better defensive plays over the last week, stripping Adebayo at the rim after Carter’s shot got blocked.

Jevon Carter, the smallest player on the floor just blocked Bam Adebayo pic.twitter.com/tiNLYtPdbX

— Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) August 9, 2020

With the win, the Suns are in 10th place, tied with the San Antonio Spurs as a half a game back of the ninth-place Blazers and two games back from the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies.

Phoenix’s next game is Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 11:30 a.m.

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