The Phoenix Suns lost to the Utah Jazz 138-134 Monday night in an overtime thriller, snapping their 10-game losing streak against the Valley. After being down 27-7 early on, the team rallied back and tied the game late in the second quarter, and even led for a short period in the third quarter. The Jazz led by seven with 20 seconds left, but after some Devin Booker heroics and a Mark Williams tip-in, the game went to overtime, but missed free throws and rebounding problems cost them in the final five minutes.
Booker led the Suns in scoring with 34, Lauri Markannen had a career high 51-point for the Jazz. Utah out rebounded Phoenix by 16 and hit 17% more of their free throws on five more attempts. The team stayed resilient throughout the contest, but once again their defensive woes and ability to generate consecutive stops plagued them once again in this early season.
The team is now 1-3 on the season and have lost three consecutive games.
The Jazz got off to a quick start, getting up 16-2 in the first four minutes. Utah came out guns blazing and the Valley struggled to find the bottom of the net on offense. After Jordan Ott called a timeout, the Jazz continued to dominate from three and got their lead up to 20.
At the end of the first, Phoenix trailed 39-27 after ending the quarter on a 9-2 run. Utah hit eight triples in the quarter. Lauri Markkanen had 14 for Utah.
Turnovers, missed shots and offensive rebounds were running awry to begin the second for both teams. The Jazz went on a 5-0 run to start the scoring, but Phoenix combatted it with a 7-0 run spearheaded by Collin Gillespie’s playmaking, leading to a Utah timeout. Additionally, with Dillon Brooks out because of a groin injury, Isaiah Livers gave Phoenix some valuable play on both ends in his first meaningful minutes with the second unit as a member of the Suns.
Phoenix played with more pace that helped them get out of their offensive woes and cut deeper into the deficit. After a few Royce O’Neale and Devin Booker triples, the Suns turned what was a 20-point Utah lead into a tie game with a few minutes left in the half.
At the end of 24 minutes, the Suns trailed 64-61. Grayson Allen led the Suns with 11 points while Markannen had 20 for the Jazz.
Utah went on a 12-5 run to start the third to bring their lead to double digits and force the Suns into calling a timeout. After the break, the Suns went on a 12-5 run to bring the game back to a one possession contest, and return the deficit back to what it was at half.
After a transition dunk from Booker, the Suns finally had their first lead of the night. Mark Williams then followed the Booker slam up with a jam of his own off a Gillespie lob pass.
Despite the Phoenix slams, the Jazz rallied back and took a 94-86 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Utah kept their momentum heading into the fourth quarter and once again, got their lead back into double digits, but the Suns fought back as Booker started taking over, hitting shots and getting his players involved; the Jazz lead was just 3 with 5:51 left in the game, just for Utah to push it back up to 10.
When it looked like the Suns were completely out of it late, Gillespie hit consecutive triples to bring them within just with less than two minutes left in regulation. The Jazz had a seven-point lead with less than 30 seconds remaining, the game appeared all but over. Then, Booker hit a few threes and after a strong defensive play by Gillespie forcing a jump ball, the Suns got a chance to tie the game after a missed Booker free throw and Mark Williams hit a tip-in to tie the game at 124. With 1.9 seconds left, Lauri Markannen had a chance to win it, but missed a baseline jumper over Booker: Overtime.
The Jazz took a five-point lead early in the period just for the Suns to go on a 6-0 run to take a 131-130 lead for their first since the third quarter. With 1:19 left, the Jazz took the lead and after Mark Williams missed the team’s second free throw of the period and struggled to get a defensive rebound on a critical Utah possession, they lost the thriller.
The Valley will head back to Arizona, where they’ll face the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday at 7 pm local time.
