Booker scores 24 points, depleted Suns rout Hornets 133-99

CHARLOTTE, NC, Jan 3 (US): Devin Booker scored 24 points, Jalen Smith scored a career high with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns short-lived Charlotte Hornets 133-99 thrashed Sunday night.

Chris Paul had 16 assists to help the Suns improve to 28-8 — half a game behind Golden State at the top of the NBA — after they lost three of their previous four, the Associated Press reported.

The Suns earned 11 points and six rebounds from Bismack Biyombo, who signed a 10-day contract on Saturday with four of the NBA’s HSP Phoenix players, including starting center Deandre Ayton, forward Jae Crowder and JaVale McGee. Coach Monty Williams was also absent.

Paul said acting coach Kevin Young spoke to the team after the morning shootout about their lack of fitness in the 123-108 road loss to Boston on Friday.

“We knew it,” said Paul. “So we wanted to be strong first and foremost on the defensive side.”

“That was all you could ask for, especially after you had it on your chin against Boston,” Young said. “Sometimes, as a coach in your heart, you feel like you’re doing the right thing and you think it will resonate, and when it pays off it is rewarding.”

Playing Biyombo in his first game of the season, an easy transition into the Suns rotation, including sinking an alley lob from Landry Shamet. Piombo played 18 minutes against his former team.

“He coped better than I could have hoped,” Young said. “…I had a really good feeling that he would be able to help us. He is the ultimate professional and knows how to play from both ends. He has been fantastic.”

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Chammitt added 17 points, Michael Bridges 15 points, Cam Johnson and Cam Payne 14 points each.

Lamelo Ball scored 17 points for the Hornets. They won three in a row.

“They made a great start and were a hungrier team,” Hornets coach James Borrego said of the Suns. “They looked like a team that lost three times in a row and we looked like a team that won three in a row. They handled their loss better than we handled our victory.”

Despite losing more than 48 combined points per game from players who were knocked out, the Suns led by 73-47 in the first half behind Booker’s 20-point lead and a 10-of-22 shot from behind the 3-point arc.

Phoenix led by 43 in the second half.

Smith’s development

Smith, who got the start at the Phoenix center, isn’t known to be a particularly emotional player, but the 21-year-old got pretty excited after throwing a one-handed dip over the Hornets’ 7-foot center. Beeping for a technical error due to speaking in the trash.

“It’s great to see,” Paul said. “We’ve been waiting for those feelings from him for a year. You never know when you’ll get your chance and see him play with those feelings….You get into this league especially when you’re in a team as good as ours and you find yourself out of shift. But he was working and he stayed ready” .

Smith described it as his most complete game as a pro, and credited him with playing Paul – who he said always gave advice in his ear – as a big reason for his development as a professional.

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“The whole time I was picking on his brain and he was able to tell me how to get on the court and how to keep him improving,” Smith said.

Hint INS

Suns: The Sun made 17 shots from behind the 3-point arc and beat the Hornets 52-35. … Abdel Nader was also discharged due to health and safety protocols.

Hornets: Miles Bridges got 10 points in his first game after returning from health and safety protocols. … BJ Washington is still in protocols. … a 9 out of 35 shot from a 3-point range.

next one

Suns: In New Orleans on Tuesday night.

Hornets: In Washington on Monday night.

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