PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 35 points without playing in the fourth quarter, and the Phoenix Suns rolled past the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-101 to improve to 6-0 in the restart.
The Suns entered the day just 1 1/2 games behind eighth-place Memphis and a game behind ninth-place Portland in the race to qualify for a spot in the Western Conference play-in series.
Phoenix center Deandre Ayton sat out the first quarter because he missed his coronavirus test on Sunday. He tested negative on Monday, was cleared and gave Phoenix a boost when he entered the game at the beginning of the second quarter.
Booker and Ayton's limited minutes in the game came at the right time. The team faces the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday in the second game of a back-to-back, their only while playing in the Orlando bubble.
The Suns are now just 1 game out of the eighth seed, and half a game behind the ninth seed headed into Wednesday with two games remaining.
