PHOENIX (AP) Kevin Durant scored 24 points in his return to Phoenix and the Houston Rockets rallied from an early 21-point deficit and pulled away late to beat the Phoenix Suns 119-105 on Tuesday night.
The Rockets are on a seven-game winning streak and moved into a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference playoff race.
All five Houston starters scored in double figures. Durant made 5 of 9 3-pointers.
Durant, a 16-time All-Star, was greeted with a mix of boos and cheers by Suns fans when he was announced as part of the Rockets’ starting lineup. He was traded to the Rockets during the offseason after spending 2 1/2 seasons in the desert in a package that brought Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green to the Suns.
The Suns jumped out to a 26-5 lead midway through the first quarter, hitting 10 of their first 15 shots, but the Rockets cut the deficit to 57-54 by halftime. Houston led early in the third quarter but Phoenix rallied to take an 84-81 into the fourth.
Houston scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to push back into the lead and didn’t trail again. Durant hit a 3-pointer to put Rockets up 111-96 with 4:14 left.
Devin Booker scored 31 points for the Suns. The Rockets finished with a 55-34 rebounding edge.
Durant came to the Suns in 2023 as part of a four-team trade deadline deal just hours after Mat Ishbia officially took the reins of the franchise as a majority owner. The splashy move was widely praised at the time, but the Suns were never able to advance past the second round of the playoffs during his tenure.
Rockets: Host the 76ers on Thursday.
Suns: Host the Mavericks on Wednesday.
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| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| K. Durant | 24 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| A. Thompson | 22 | 11 | 8 | 4 |
| J. Smith | 20 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
| A. Sengun | 12 | 14 | 6 | 4 |
| R. Sheppard | 12 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| A. Holiday | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| T. Eason | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 |
| C. Capela | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| J. Tate | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| J. Okogie | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| J. Green | – | – | – | – |
| D. Finney-Smith | – | – | – | – |
| J. Davison | – | – | – | – |
| T. Newton | – | – | – | – |
| I. Crawford | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 119 | 55 | 26 | 31 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| D. Booker | 31 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| M. Williams | 19 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| J. Green | 15 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| J. Goodwin | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| D. Brooks | 10 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| G. Allen | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| O. Ighodaro | 8 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| R. O’Neale | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Bouyea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Gillespie | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Dunn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Fleming | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Maluach | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Brea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Coffey | – | – | – | – |
| I. Livers | – | – | – | – |
| H. Highsmith | – | – | – | – |
| C. Huntley | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 105 | 34 | 15 | 20 |
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