By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining, Jordan Goodwin scored 26 points with a career-high eight 3-pointers and the Phoenix Suns beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 108-105, on Sunday night, Jan. 4.
Booker took the late inbounds pass and drilled the long 3-pointer over Alex Caruso, shaking a season-long slump from long range. Ajay Mitchell missed a corner 3 at the buzzer that would have tied it.
Oklahoma City’s four-game winning streak was snapped and the team fell to 30-6, which is still the best record in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 25 points while Jalen Williams had 23.
The Suns — who trailed by 18 in the second quarter — won despite coughing up a late four-point lead.
Suns guard Dillon Brooks made a tough 3-pointer over Gilgeous-Alexander with 36 seconds left to give the Suns a 105-101 advantage. Chet Holmgren hit a turnaround jumper to cut it to 105-103 with 26 seconds remaining.
Brooks had a turnover on the ensuing possession and Williams made a step-back jumper to tie it at 105 with 8.2 seconds left.
But Booker’s big shot erased the late problems. He finished with 24 points. Brooks scored 22. Goodwin made 9 of 16 shots off the bench, including 8 of 13 from behind the arc.
The Suns trailed 49-31 in the second quarter, but rallied for a 71-70 lead late in the third on Ryan Dunn’s 3-pointer. Phoenix took a 74-73 advantage into the fourth.
The Thunder built a 24-9 lead in the first while the Suns missed their first eight 3-point attempts. Oklahoma City led 49-31 late in the second but settled for a 49-42 halftime lead after Phoenix closed on an 11-0 run.
Luguentz Dort and Williams both had 10 points for the Thunder before the break. Goodwin led the Suns with nine.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic scored 36 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, LeBron James added 26 points with 10 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied for a 120-114 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Jake LaRavia also scored 26 points against his former team and Deandre Ayton had 15 points as the Lakers earned their second home victory over the Grizzlies in three days. The consecutive victories came after Los Angeles lost four of its previous five contests.
Jaylen Wells scored 23 points for Memphis and rookie Cedric Coward scored 16 points with nine rebounds, all in the first half, but did not play after halftime because of an ankle injury.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 14 points and Jock Landale had 13 points with 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who lost their fourth consecutive game.
Memphis guard Ja Morant (calf) was out for 15th time over the past 21 games.
The Lakers trailed by 11 points with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter before closing the period on an 8-2 run to trail 87-83.
Los Angeles tied it 92-92 on a driving layup by LaRavia with 7:14 remaining then took its first lead since the first quarter at 94-92 on another layup by LaRavia.
The teams traded the lead back and forth before the Lakers took the lead for good at 100-99 on a pullup jumper from Doncic with 5:12 remaining. Consecutive 3-pointers from Doncic put Los Angeles up 112-103 with 2:08 left.
The victory came without Rui Hachimura (calf) for the third consecutive game, while Austin Reaves (calf) missed his fourth consecutive contest.
