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Booker scores 29 and Suns lose Durant to ankle injury in 104-93 win over Spurs

PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 29 points and the Phoenix Suns overcame the loss of Kevin Durant to an ankle injury to beat the San Antonio Spurs 104-93 on Tuesday night.

Durant left the game with 3:51 to play in the second quarter and did not return. He went to the locker room under his own power and the Suns later said he hurt an ankle without providing any details. He finished with 13 points.

Although Oklahoma City West won Group B in the NBA Cup, the Suns hoped to earn a wild card berth to the quarterfinals. But they were eliminated when Dallas defeated Memphis.

Booker surpassed 15,000 career points with his first basket of the night. He trails only Walter Davis (15,666) on Phoenix’s scoring list.

San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama scored 15 points, all in the second half, and had 13 rebounds. He missed all seven shots in the first half, six from three-point range.

Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points off the bench. Stephon Castle scored 16.

Tyus Jones scored 16 points, and Royce O’Neale and Bradley Beal each had 10 for Phoenix.

Takeaways

Spurs: Jeremy Sochan returned after missing 13 games with a left thumb injury that required surgery. He came off the bench and contributed 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Suns: Oso Ighodaro started at Phoenix center in place of Jusuf Nurkic, who will be sidelined at least a week with a right thigh contusion.

Key moment

The Suns started the game on an 11-0 spurt before Castle scored for San Antonio.

Key stat

The Spurs were 8 of 44 (18%) from three-point range.

Next

The Spurs host Chicago on Friday. The Suns visit New Orleans on Friday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba