FILE – Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns reacts during the second half of the NBA game against the Houston Rockets at Footprint Center on February 16, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Rockets 124-121. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
Devin Booker scored a season-high 49 points and added 10 assists, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists in his return to the lineup, and the visiting Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 140-130 on Thursday night to clinch the top seed in the Western Conference.
Mikal Bridges scored 22 points, Deandre Ayton had 16 points and Jae Crowder finished with 12 for the Suns (60-14), who have won seven straight.
☀️ @DevinBook's SEASON-HIGH leads the @Suns to win No. 60, clinching the best record in the NBA!
49 points
16-25 shooting
10 assists
3 steals pic.twitter.com/iDvNrM5zjL— NBA (@NBA) March 25, 2022
Paul missed 15 games with a fractured thumb and hadn’t played for the Suns since prior to the All-Star break. He did log two minutes in the All-Star Game.
17 points, 13 dimes for @CP3 in his return as the @Suns clinch the NBA's best record! pic.twitter.com/p0QRwYIybZ
— NBA (@NBA) March 25, 2022
Nikola Jokic led Denver (43-31) with 28 points, Bones Hyland scored 23, Aaron Gordon had 21, Will Barton had 17, Monte Morris scored 15, Jeff Green added 11 and DeMarcus Cousins had 10.
The teams traded leads in a high-scoring first half, with Phoenix leading by five and the Nuggets up by seven at one point.
Hyland did most of the damage for Denver. He scored 19 points off the bench, including 4-for-6 from behind the arc, to help give the Nuggets a 68-66 lead at halftime.
Things stayed close for the first few minutes of the third quarter before Denver created some distance. Barton and Morris hit 3-pointers, and Morris was fouled on his jumper and made the free throw for a four-point play and an 85-78 lead.
The Suns got within 89-86, but the Nuggets stretched the lead to 101-92 late in the period. Phoenix came back behind Booker, who scored 10 points in the final 2:52 to cut the deficit to 106-104 heading into the fourth.
Phoenix took the lead when Bridges’ 3-pointer made it 110-109, then the Suns started to pull away. Bridges hit a pair of free throws, Booker made a jumper in the lane and Bridges hit another 3-pointer to make it 122-114.
Denver got within 124-120 on a three-point play by Gordon with 3:55 left, but Phoenix closed it out.