Kevin Durant had 24 points and five 3-pointers in his return to Phoenix and the Houston Rockets overcame a 21-point deficit for their largest comeback of the season, producing a 119-105 victory over the host Suns on Tuesday.
Amen Thompson logged 22 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and Jabari Smith Jr. had 20 points and five 3-pointers for the Rockets, who have won seven in a row and nine of 11.
The Rockets (50-29) are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers (50-29) for fourth place in the West and are one game behind the Denver Nuggets (51-28) with three to play. The Lakers own the tiebreaker over both.
Devin Booker had 31 points and eight assists and Mark Williams contributed 19 points and eight rebounds for the Suns (43-36), who had a 24-0 run in the first quarter to build a 26-5 lead before fading.
With the Suns’ loss and the Timberwolves’ Tuesday win, Minnesota clinched the sixth and final guaranteed Western Conference playoff berth. Phoenix will have to compete in the play-in tournament.
The Rockets opened the fourth quarter with a 30-12 run to take a 111-96 lead, and the Suns never drew closer than 10 the rest of the way.
Houston swept the four-game season series and has won eight in a row against Phoenix.
The Rockets shot 45% from the field and had a 55-34 rebounding edge, turning 24 offensive rebounds into 37 second-chance points.
The Suns made 34 free throws on 39 attempts, both season highs, but shot only 42.7% from the field. Booker was 15 of 16 from the line and Williams was 5 of 6.
Houston’s Alperen Sengun, bothered by foul trouble, had 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes. He picked up his fourth foul 48 seconds into the third quarter and returned with four minutes left in the period.
Williams had 10 points in the Suns’ 24-0 run, their longest run since play-by-play has been recorded starting in 1997-98.
Durant, who played for the Suns the previous 2 1/2 seasons, and Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks engaged in a running dialogue in a chippy second quarter. Booker and Houston’s Jae’Sean Tate received technical fouls a minute apart midway through the period. Durant had 11 points in the quarter as the Rockets pulled within 57-54 entering halftime.
Brooks made two free throws for a 75-70 lead after Reed Sheppard was called for a flagrant-1 foul for grabbing Brooks around the neck on a third-quarter drive. The Suns led 84-81 after three.
