PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 25 points, Jalen Green added 20 and the Phoenix Suns snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Raptors 120-98 on Sunday (Monday in Manila).
Phoenix won its 40th game of the season, which is already a four-win improvement over last year with 10 games to play.
The Suns never trailed and took an 18-point lead into halftime. They extended the advantage to 92-62 late in the third when Booker got fouled while making a driving layup, adding the free throw to convert the three-point play.
Booker shot 9 of 15 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Collin Gillespie added 16 points. The Suns’ second unit played well with Ryan Dunn scoring 12 and rookie Rasheer Fleming adding 11.
Toronto lost its second straight. The Raptors are still No. 5 in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but fell to 39-31, which is just a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers. The top six teams automatically make the playoffs in each conference.
Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 17 points. RJ Barrett and Ja’Kobe Walter both added 13.
The banged-up Suns won despite missing a big chunk of their playing rotation, including Royce O’Neale (knee), Grayson Allen (knee), Dillon Brooks (hand) and Mark Williams (foot).
Timberwolves 102, Celtics 92
In Boston, Bones Hyland scored 23 points, Jaden McDaniels had 19 and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Celtics to snap an 18-game losing streak in Boston.
Ayo Dosunmu added 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Minnesota, and Rudy Gobert had 14 rebounds and nine points. The Timberwolves’ last win in Boston came in 2005.
“Dang, that don’t even sound right,” Hyland said, when told about 2005. “I was 5-years-old. That’s crazy.”
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 29 points, Jayson Tatum overcame a slow start to score 16 points and add 11 rebounds. Derrick White had 15 points. The loss snapped the Celtics’ four-game winning streak and left them just a half-game ahead of the New York Knicks in second place in the Eastern Conference.
Timberwolves All-Star guard Anthony Edwards was sidelined for his fourth straight game because of right knee inflammation.
Nuggets 128, Blazers 112
In Denver, Nikola Jokic recorded his 35th triple-double of the season and both he and Jamal Murray scored 22 points when the Denver Nuggets celebrated the return of Peyton Watson by cooling off the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jokic had 22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists. Cam Johnson added 19 points as the Nuggets stopped Portland’s three-game winning streak, all on the road.
Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with 23 points and Donovan Clingan added 18 for Portland, which never led in the last of a five-game trip.
Watson, who hadn’t played since Feb. 4 due to a hamstring injury, scored 14 points in just under 20 minutes. He was one of seven Nuggets to score in double figures.
The 6-foot-8 guard was averaging almost 15 points when he got hurt six weeks ago, and coach David Adelman said before tip-off that the minutes of his “high-level wing defender” and precision passer will be restricted as he works his way back into the rotation.