Devin Booker’s buzzer beater upends DeMarcus Cousins’ triple-double, gives Suns 105-103 win

DeMarcus Cousins had a triple-double by the 3rd quarter, an occurrence that would usually spell doom for the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker would have none of it.

After Darren Collison hit a baseline jumper with 8.2 seconds left in the 4th quarter to tie the game at 103, Booker took Matt Barnes off the dribble and banked a contested shot from 20 feet out at the buzzer to give the Suns a 105-103 win over the Sacramento Kings and snap a five-game losing streak.

Cousins had a monster game going for the Kings and finished with his sixth career triple-double (22 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists), but he found himself in foul trouble in the 4th quarter and had to take a seat until 3:18 was left in the game. The Kings held a 98-96 lead at that point, but a 3-pointer by Cousins and Collison’s baseline shot would be all of Sacramento’s offense for the rest of the game.

Booker, who led all scorers with 33 points, had only seven at halftime but did what he usually does and picked up his production in the 2nd half, scoring 15 points alone in the 3rd quarter, including the first eight of the period to spark a surge from Phoenix that the Kings would ultimately answer.

The Suns were fortunate to enter halftime with a 49-49 tie after Eric Bledsoe closed the 2nd quarter with a 3. They shot only 35.9 percent from the field through the first two quarters, but they made up that ground by hitting 16 of 19 free throws in the half. Brandon Knight scored all 12 of his points in the 2nd quarter, Bledsoe scored 11 of his 20 points in the 1st half, and T.J. Warren scored 10 of his 21 points in the opening half as well to keep up with the Kings, who got an unexpected 16 points from Ben McLemore in the 1st half.

The Suns shooting for the game only improved to 41.6 percent, but they made 29 of 35 free throws to Sacramento’s 17 of 22.