NBA: Chris Paul, Mikal Bridges help Suns outlast Spurs
FILE–Torrey Craig #0, Bismack Biyombo #18, Chris Paul #3, Mikal Bridges #25 and Dario Saric #20 of the Phoenix Suns. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
Chris Paul racked up 31 points and 11 assists and Mikal Bridges added 25 points, eight of them in overtime, as the visiting Phoenix Suns outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 128-118 on Saturday.
Phoenix led by 11 after three quarters after fending off a San Antonio rally midway through the period. The Spurs refused to give up, clawing to within a point three times in the final three minutes of regulation, the latter on Jeremy Sochan’s 3-pointer with 1:27 remaining.
Keldon Johnson’s three-point play with 47.8 seconds left tied the game at 110. Both teams then missed shots down the stretch to send things to an extra period.
DeAndre Ayton and Paul hit shots to give the Suns a four-point lead early in overtime. Johnson answered with a floater before Bridges hit back-to-back jumpers to expand the advantage to 118-112. After Johnson hit another basket, Bridges had a three-point play to make it a three-possession game and Phoenix was able to hold on.
CHRIS PAUL. DOUBLE-DOUBLE
☀️ 31 PTS
☀️ 11 AST
☀️ 7 REB
☀️ 2 BLK
☀️ 63.9 FPTS#WeAreTheValley pic.twitter.com/ye96pGq9Cy— NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) January 29, 2023
Ayton finished with 23 points, Cameron Johnson had 15 and Dario Saric took 13 rebounds for the Suns, who won for the fifth time in six games.
Keldon Johnson poured in 34 points for San Antonio and Sochan scored a career-high 30 points, with 14 of those coming in the third quarter. Keita Bates-Diop had 14 points, Doug McDermott scored 10 and Jakob Poeltl grabbed 13 rebounds for the Spurs, who have dropped five straight games and 10 of their past 11.
The Suns played without injured guards Devin Booker, Landry Shamet and Cameron Payne, while San Antonio was missing Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford.
Phoenix led by as much as 11 in the first quarter before settling for a 33-26 advantage after 12 minutes of play.
The Spurs got to within 37-31 on McDermott’s driving layup with 9:42 to play in the second period before Phoenix reassumed the offensive, stretching its lead to 12 points after a Torrey Craig 3-pointer at the 3:35 mark. Keldon Johnson’s jumper with 27.5 seconds remaining in the period cut the San Antonio deficit to 55-48 at the break.
Ayton led the Suns with 14 points before halftime with Keldon Johnson matching that output to pace San Antonio.
