By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 29 points and the Phoenix Suns weathered the loss of Kevin Durant to an ankle injury to beat the San Antonio Spurs, 104-93, on Tuesday night, Dec. 3.
Durant left the game with 3:51 to play in the second quarter and did not return. He headed to the locker room under his own power, and the Suns later said he hurt an ankle without providing any specifics. He finished with 13 points.
Though Oklahoma City won West Group B in the NBA Cup, the Suns were hoping to earn a wild-card berth into the quarterfinals. But they were eliminated when Dallas beat 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 3-point range.
In Oklahoma City, Jalen Williams scored 28 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and the Thunder beat the Utah Jazz, 133-106, en route to the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
Isaiah Joe had 19 points and fellow reserve Aaron Wiggins finished with 16 as the Thunder closed out West Group B play at 3-1. They won the group when Phoenix beat San Antonio 104-93 later Tuesday.
Alexander, selected as Western Conference player of the month earlier Tuesday, scored 15 points after halftime. Oklahoma City twice led by as many as 30 points in the second half.
Isaiah Hartenstein had four points and five rebounds, his first game without at least 10 points and 10 boards in six games since returning from a fractured hand.
Collin Sexton scored 17 points while Walker Kessler and John Collins added 15 apiece for the Jazz, who fell to 4-17.
Meanwhile in Toronto, Scottie Barnes scored a career-high 35 points, RJ Barrett added 29 and the Raptors never trailed in a 122-111 win over the Pacers on Tuesday night that extended Indiana’s road losing streak to seven.
Jakob Poeltl had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Ochai Agbaji scored 13 points for the Raptors, who led by 24 points in the third quarter.
Barnes shot 13 for 20 and had nine assists and six rebounds. His previous scoring high was 32 points, set twice.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 30 points for the Pacers, who have not won away from home since beating Dallas on Nov. 4. Bennedict Mathurin had 17 points, Myles Turner scored 16 and Obi Toppin added 15.
Indiana’s Pascal Siakam fouled out with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting against his former team. He was called for a technical foul in the fourth quarter.
The Raptors finished 1-3 in NBA Cup group play for the second straight year. The Pacers fell to 0-4 in the tournament.
In Los Angeles, Norman Powell scored 30 points, James Harden had 23 and the Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 127-105.
Amir Coffey scored 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and Derrick Jones Jr. added 15 for Clippers. Los Angeles shot 55.3% from the field and was 19 of 37 (51.4%) from 3-point range en route to a season high in points.
DeAndre Ayton scored 16 points and Shaedon Sharpe and Deni Avdija each had 15 for Portland.
The Clippers and Trail Blazers each finished 2-2 in NBA Cup West Group A play. Neither team advanced out of pool play.
In Denver, Nikola Jokic had 38 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to rally the Nuggets to a 119-115 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Jokic fell four assists shy of his NBA-leading ninth triple-double of the season. The reigning league MVP remained tied with Magic Johnson for the third-most triple-doubles in NBA history with 138.
Earlier in Sacramento, Domantas Sabonis scored 27 points and made 15 straight shots from the field to beat Houston, 120-111, and deny the Rockets the top seed in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The shooting spree by the Kings turned an eight-point deficit late in the second quarter into a 12-point lead midway through the third to give the Kings their only win in four NBA Cup games.
