Suns Stumble During Clutch Time in Loss vs Thunder

The Phoenix Suns once again failed to take advantage of clutch time.

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (35-26) fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder (42-18) Sunday night at Footprint Center. 

The Suns were forced to navigate this game sans Devin Booker - as the star suffered a sprained ankle in the waning moments of last night's loss to the Houston Rockets and was ruled out earlier on Sunday. 

Phoenix got off to a quick start, taking a 10-2 lead just over three minutes into the game - and continued an extremely impressive defensive effort throughout the remainder of the quarter. 

The Suns trailed by a score of 28-24 at the end of the first, despite Jusuf Nurkic chipping in 12 rebounds and great rim protection. 

OKC parlayed the momentum they started late in the first quarter en route to a double-digit lead of 66-52 at halftime.

The third quarter continued the meltdown from a strong first nine minutes of play for several minutes, but an Eric Gordon three-pointer at 3:58 cut the Thunder lead to 10 after Phoenix trailed by as much as 24.

The Suns found their footing and began to hit shots, only trailing by a score of 89-85 going into the final quarter.

Phoenix expanded off of the newfound life and took a 91-89 lead early in the fourth, though the Thunder eventually regained control and forced the Suns into a few awful possessions that included tough shots and more turnovers. 

Jalen Williams' mid-range bucket at the 2:00 mark essentially put the game on ice for Oklahoma City to see out a win as the final buzzer sounded. 

The Thunder won despite shooting a poor 9-31 from downtown. Phoenix turned the ball over 22 times during the loss. 

Key Performances 

Kevin Durant -20 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST

Bradley Beal - 31 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST

Jusuf Nurkic - 14 PTS, 31 REB, 1 BLK

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - 35 PTS, 8 REB, 9 AST

Jalen Williams - 22 PTS, 4 REB, 3 STL

What's Next

The Suns travel to face the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.