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The Suns take their sixth win in a row in a thriller against the Miami Heat

Posted on by Kennedy
The Suns take their sixth win in a row in a thriller against the Miami Heat

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The Phoenix Suns (7-1) extended their winning streak to six by defeating the Miami Heat 115-112 at home on Wednesday. Miami (3-4) lost for the second straight year.

Kevin Durant had a game-high 32 points and eight rebounds, Devin Booker had 22 points and nine assists and Jusuf Nurkic scored a season-high 20 points and a game-high 18 points in the win.

Miami's top player Tyler Herro scored 28 points (game-high five 3s), Jimmy Butler scored 15 with 7 rebounds and Bam Adebayo scored 12 and 12 with 6 assists.

The Suns' lead did not exceed five points in the hard-fought fourth quarter. There were 22 lead changes and 11 draws throughout the game. Miami's largest lead was 15 in the third quarter.

Phoenix stormed back, cut the deficit to three in the fourth period and ran the whole thing. Bradley Beal (7 points, 3 assists) made his only three-pointer with 3:52 left in the game and the Suns held the lead until the end, despite Miami's field goals and free throws that kept them close. The Heat had one final timeout after an off-court play with 4.1 seconds left, but couldn't get a good look from the arc.

The Suns next face the Dallas Mavericks on Friday at 5:30 p.m

Suns, Heat trade underway in 3rd quarter

Kevin Durant scored 12 of his 21 points in the third quarter as the Suns trailed 87-84 early in the fourth quarter.

The Heat's Tyler Herro was the game's top scorer with 24 points.

After Herro hit his fourth triple for Miami to take a 61-60 lead after about 11 minutes, the Heat outscored the Suns 23-9 over the next eight minutes to take their largest lead (15).

Then the Suns fought back with a 15-3 run to cut the lead to three.

Suns and Heat remain tight in the 2nd quarter

At the break, Phoenix trailed Miami 58-55. Nine of the 13 lead changes took place in the second quarter, and there were seven draws in total.

Suns great Jusuf Nurkic has a team-high 14 points (4 of 6 shooting, including two from long range) and a game-high 12 rebounds. The Heat's Tyler Herro matched Nurkic's game-high 14 points (3 of 5 FG, three from beyond the arc).

Both the Suns and Heat benches contributed well with 19 and 23 points respectively.

Durant, the Suns start off hot in the 1st quarter

Phoenix has a 26:25 lead over Miami at the end of the first quarter.

Kevin Durant is the Suns' leading scorer with seven points, and he also added three rebounds and two assists. Tyler Herro has nine points, all from 3.

The Suns got off to a hot start, starting at 8 of 12 until fading to 10 of 21. They had the largest lead of seven points, while Miami had a three-point lead.

Starting lineups

The Suns will start with Tyus Jones, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic.

The Heat open with Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Nikola Jovic.

Suns assume Beal is available

Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said during his pregame media release that Beal (right elbow sprain) will likely play against the Heat. He was the only player listed on the Suns' injury report and listed as probable.

The Heat's Jaime Jaquez (illness) and Kevin Love (conditioning) are out.

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