Suns pile on points, woeful Jazz in cruising to victory
Jalen Green scored 31 points and made five 3-pointers, Devin Booker added 26 points and the host Phoenix Suns tied their season scoring high in a 134-109 blowout of the tanking Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Grayson Allen scored 19 points and Oso Ighodaro had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Suns (41-33), who had lost six of seven.
Green was 13 of 22 from the field, 5 of 11 from 3-point range, and had six rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes. Booker had eight assists.
Kyle Filipowski had 26 points and nine rebounds, Brice Sensabaugh scored 26 points and Svi Mykhailiuk scored all of his 14 points in the second half for the Jazz (21-54), who have lost five in a row and 17 of 20.
The Suns opened a 37-17 lead late in the first quarter and were never seriously threatened. They led 73-45 at the break, their largest halftime lead of the season, and were up by as many as 34.
Phoenix is 3 1/2 games behind Houston (44-29) for sixth place in the Western Conference. The top six teams avoid the play-in round, which features the seventh through 10th finishers.
Allen had four 3-pointers and the Suns went 17 of 53 from distance. They shot 50.0% from the field (52 of 104) and attempted more threes than twos (51).
The Suns have won 12 of the last 13 in the series, their only loss coming when Lauri Markkanen scored 51 points in the Jazz's 138-134 overtime win Oct. 27.
Utah rookie Ace Bailey, who had averaged 23.7 points in his last six games, had 13 points, all in the second half.
Suns rookie center Khaman Maluach had 12 points and nine rebounds, one board short of his first double-double.
Green made three of the Suns' eight 3-pointers in the first quarter and Allen and Royce O'Neale had two apiece. Rasheer Fleming's three made it 37-17 with 1:28 left in the period, which ended 39-21 and set the tone.
The Suns played without starters Dillon Brooks (hand) and Mark Williams (foot). Isaiah Collier (hamstring) and leading scorers Keyonte George (hamstring) and Markkanen (hip) were unavailable for Utah.

