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SALT LAKE CITY, April 9 (BUS): Devin Booker scored 33 points and the NBA leaders Phoenix Suns scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Utah Jazz 111-105 on Friday night.
Deandre Ayton wrapped up the win with a pass from Chris Paul with 18.4 seconds left. The Associated Press (AP) reported that Eaton scored 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Paul had 16 points and 16 assists to help the Suns expand their franchise record with their 64th win.
“We read the game. Are they trying to take this away?” Paul said. “They took the book away and (Ayton) is open. They helped Michal (the bridges) and we beat him. We weren’t surprised. “
Bridges added 18 points, capping Phoenix 14-0 in the fourth quarter to equalize 98. A three-point dunk play with 46 seconds left gave the Suns a 107-102 lead.
“I didn’t think we had so much team spirit in third place,” said Suns coach Monty Williams. “Then, for whatever reason, I saw this consistency in our group. We call it the erosion effect, where if we can stay with it, trust each other and keep playing the right way, we can live with the results.”
The Jazz didn’t score a field goal—nine in a row—for about seven minutes in the fourth quarter.
“We made six assists in the second half,” said Utah coach Quinn Snyder. “The ball has stopped moving. We gave up on something. When you don’t have effective possessions offensively, defending becomes more difficult for us.”
Utah has lost 16 games as it has made a double-digit lead this season. The Suns outperformed the Jazz 36-13 in the fourth quarter.
“We knew we had to deal with it a little bit,” Booker said. “We were aware that they gave up on some big potential customers this year.”
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points for Utah. Slowed by Bridges, Donovan Mitchell 18 points on 7 of 21 rebounds. Rudy Gobert finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“We didn’t have stops and they were able to run. We stopped playing the way we were playing earlier,” said Goubert. “We overthink about time four and in time.”
After both star-studded teams rested in their previous matches, this looked like a watershed preview with some superb execution at times and extraordinary effort.
Show why these teams are ranked at the top in offensive proficiency, there were amazing baskets until the Suns suddenly held out.
The Suns have long wrapped up the number one seed in the NBA – and they showed why they look like the team to beat.
“In hostile situations, we are against the world,” Bridges said. “We get tighter together and get stronger. We are one there.”
The Suns finished with a franchise record – 32 road wins and became the first NBA team since 1969-70 New York Knicks to finish with a better road win percentage than every other team’s home win percentage.
“We have some bad guys on this team,” Bridges said. “They love to break fans’ hearts (on the road).”
The Jazz are currently fifth in the Western Conference, but they could drop to sixth on the final night of the season.
Jordan Clarkson beat the bell by three points to give Utah a 92-75 lead to enter the fourth quarter, with the Jazz one of the weakest of the playoff teams and the Suns the best.
Carlos Boozer, a two-time All-Star with the jazz, was honored during the third quarter for the Boooos Standing Choir — as was the norm in his 2004-2010 Utah run. The Jazz team has not returned to the Western Conference Finals since Bowser led them there in 2007.
Combined with his big clutch shots, Bridges helped hold Mitchell 0-for-6 in the fourth quarter.
“I’m not a politician, I’m not very eloquent in pushing people,” Williams said, “but you can’t look at the effort that young man puts in every night on that end of the floor and then does what he does on crime.”
Bridges appreciated his coach’s opinion.
“Obviously I want to, but control what you can control, so I keep on defending,” Bridges said.
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