PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have now lost back-to-back games out of the All-Star break.
The Houston Rockets defeated the Suns on Friday in 114-100 fashion, dropping the Suns to 33-24 on the season.
Without Jusuf Nurkic and Bradley Beal due to injury, Phoenix clearly missed their firepower on the second night of a back-to-back.
It appeared Phoenix was well on its way to a blowout victory in the first quarter, emerging to a 22-9 advantage to begin action before Houston narrowed their deficit down to 28-20 heading into the second. Thaddeus Young saw his first action in a Suns uniform midway through the quarter, nabbing four rebounds and two points.
After being up by as much as 16 in the first half, the Rockets found their footing and eventually took a 57-52 advantage into halftime. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker shot a combined 8-24 from the field while the Suns made just 3-of-17 field goal attempts. Houston finished on an 11-1 run to close out the second quarter.
The Rockets pushed their lead to double digits early in the third, maintaining that advantage throughout the 12 minute period and leading 89-76 heading into the fourth. Fred VanVleet finished the third with 23 points and five assists.
The Suns managed to make a comeback of their own, erasing the aforementioned deficit and taking a small lead as the two teams battled down the stretch of the final quarter. Houston ultimately hung on in the final seconds to secure the win.
Durant led Phoenix with 28 points while Booker (25) and Bol Bol (25 off the bench) were also big scorers for the Suns.
VanVleet led the Rockets with 23 points.
Phoenix will be back home on Sunday to host the Los Angeles Lakers.
