Bradley Beal shines off the Suns bench at both ends in the win over the Hawks

On By Littum

game

Bradley Beal had a game-high 25 points and a team-high three steals to lead the way Phoenix Suns (17-19) for a 123-115 home victory over Atlanta Hawks (19-19) Thursday.

This was the third straight game that Beal came off the bench after being removed from the Suns’ starting lineup earlier in the week. He had one of his best shooting performances of the season, 11-of-16, and added seven rebounds, two assists and a block.

Kevin Durant and Grayson Allen each had 23 points as Allen was on fire, hitting 7-of-8. Devin Booker had 20 points and a game-high 12 assists, and Tyus Jones produced 16 points.

Atlanta’s top performers were Trae Young (team-high 21 points, seven assists), Bogdan Bogdanovic (17 points, 7-of-11) and Dyson Daniels (13 points, three steals).

Phoenix took control early, going up by as many as 12 in the first quarter. Then Atlanta surged in the second and took a 72-68 lead at halftime. The Suns regained the lead during a close third quarter and were ahead in the fourth. They took their biggest lead at 15 on Allen’s fifth 3 with 3:26 left to play.

The Suns next face the Utah Jazz at home at 3:00 p.m., Saturday. It’s the first of back-to-back weekend games that are part of this three-game homestand that concludes Sunday against Charlotte.

Beal leads the Suns to regain the lead in the 3rd quarter

Beal continues to impress off the bench as he added nine to his 21 points (9-of-11), putting the Suns back in front, 98-92, to close out the third quarter.

There were seven ties and three lead changes in the third. The Suns’ biggest lead of the third quarter was eight from a 7-0 run led by Beal between 2:20 and 1:10.

Young, Hawks surge in 2nd quarter

After Atlanta never led the entire first quarter, Trae Young scored nine of his 13 points (4-of-6) for Atlanta, giving the Hawks a 72-68 halftime lead. Atlanta’s second-best shooter Bogdan Bogdanovic has matched Young for a team-high 13 points.

Beal and Grayson Allen got into the Suns’ solid shooting during the second quarter. Beal scored nine of his 12 points and Allen scored eight of his 11 points during the quarter. Durant led the Suns’ with 16 points and Booker scored 10 with the seven assists in the game.

The Hawks took their first lead, 60-59, in the second on Bogdanovic’s third trey at 3:40. It was toward the end of the Hawks’ 13–2 run. After the Suns’ dominated the paint 18-6 in the first, their interior defense let loose and the Hawks took advantage of a 28-26 lead in that category at halftime.

The Hawks had their biggest lead six on a triple by Dyson Daniels (five points) with 43 seconds left, then Tyus Jones (10 points) scored a layup in the final seconds to trim it to four.

The sun starts to warm in the 1st quarter

Durant, Booker and Tyus Jones led Phoenix’s shooting guard to a 38-31 lead to close the first period. Durant had a game-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Booker and Jones each had eight points on 4-of-5 and 3-for-3 shooting, respectively.

Phoenix came out smoking, making 75% of their 20 attempts. Atlanta shot 52.4% including seven made 3s. After Beal (three points, two rebounds, one assist) came off the bench after seven minutes, he helped ignite a 10-0 run to stretch the Suns’ two-point lead to the game’s earliest-widest margin at 12 at 5:13 .

Former Suns forward David Roddy led the Hawks with 11 points and drained a 3 at the buzzer.

Starting lineups

The Suns start Tyus Jones and Devin Booker in the backcourt, Ryan Dunn at the three, Kevin Durant, and Mason Plumlee is in the middle.

The Hawks will open with Young, Dyson Daniels, Vit Krejci, Zaccharie Risacher and Clint Capela at the five.

Suns’ O’Neale still out

Royce O’Neale (left ankle sprain) remains inactive and will be re-evaluated this week.

The Hawks’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder Jalen Johnson (shoulder) is out. Their backup big Cody Zeller (personal) is out and sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic (leg) has been upgraded from questionable to available.