After another thrilling off-season, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is finally back with more blockbuster trades and the arrival of a generational talents to look forward to in the 2023-24 season.
Devin Booker capped a game-high 32-point performance with three key assists down the stretch Tuesday night, allowing the Phoenix Suns to get past the Golden State Warriors for a 108-104 victory in San Francisco on the NBA’s opening night.
A seesaw affair was a one-point game in the Suns’ favour before Booker found Josh Okogie in the left corner for a 3-pointer that opened a 103-99 lead with 1:09 to play.
Stephen Curry countered with two free throws, but Booker then drew the defence and spotted Eric Gordon open for another 3-pointer, this one creating a five-point difference with just 44.7 seconds left.
Reuters reports that the Golden State, which lost three of four games to Phoenix last season, came back one more time on a Curry 3-pointer off an offensive rebound to get within 106-104 with 31.4 seconds left.
But after a timeout, the ball found its way to Booker, who this time drilled a completion to Jusuf Nurkic for a layup that produced the game’s final points with 10.3 seconds remaining.
The assists were Nos. 6, 7 and 8 for Booker, who played without new backcourt sidekick Bradley Beal, out with a back injury.
Kevin Durant chipped in with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double for Phoenix, and Nurkic had a double-double of his own with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Okogie, whose late 3-pointer came on his only attempt of the game from beyond the arc, finished with 17 points, while Gordon, who missed his first seven 3-point attempts before making the last two, contributed 10 points off the bench.
The Suns outscored the Warriors 33-30 on 3-pointers despite taking 10 fewer attempts (43-33).
Curry paced six Warriors in double figures with 27 points but misfired on 10 of his 14 3-point tries.
Klay Thompson had 15 points, Chris Paul added 14 to complement a game-high nine assists and reserve Jonathan Kuminga scored 12 points for the Warriors, who were without Draymond Green (ankle).
Phoenix built a 15-point lead by halftime thanks in large part to 21 points from Booker before the break. But Golden State rallied in the third quarter, putting together a colossal 21-2 run that gave it a 73-66 lead with 5:00 to go until the fourth.
