Kevin Huerter scores 29 points, Kings beat Suns 135-127

By CAMERON SALERNO
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Huerter led all scorers with 29 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Phoenix Suns 135-127 on Friday night.

Huerter added nine rebounds and five assists for the Kings (44-29), who are in third place in the Western Conference behind Denver and Memphis.

“That third quarter was huge,” Huerter said. “At the start of it, we got stops and allowed us to get out in transition … we had to pick up the pace, continue to move the ball, and look for better looks.”

Domantas Sabonis finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Kings.

Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox exited the game with 7:16 left in the third quarter with right hamstring soreness. Fox finished with 19 points in 21 minutes.

“Big win by our guys tonight,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “The energy in this building is off the charts.”

Harrison Barnes scored 23 points and Keegan Murray finished with 13 points, including three 3-pointers in the win.

Devin Booker finished with 32 points for the Suns (38-36). Terrence Ross scored a season-high 30 points off the bench and hit six 3-pointers.

“The bench played well,” Booker said. “They brought us back at the end of the third, too, when me and Chris went to the bench. Shoutout to the bench guys. They played unbelievably tonight. We didn’t have enough to finish it out.”

Chris Paul had 15 points and 13 assists. Jock Landale finished with 17 points in the loss.

“There’s a number of struggles,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “We got a bit unorganized in the third quarter. We just weren’t that great. … It’s obviously a tough loss when we were playing as well as we did in the first half.”

TIP-INS

Suns: Deandre Ayton (right hip contusion) and Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) were ruled out before the game. … Booker received a technical foul with 8:35 left in the third quarter. … Paul received a technical minutes later, with 7:41 left in the third.

Kings: Huerter returned after a two-game absence because of a right popliteus strain in his knee. … The attendance on Friday of 18,151 broke a Golden 1 Center record.

UP NEXT

Kings: Host the Utah Jazz on Saturday. Suns: Host the 76ers on Saturday.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports