Suns vs. Bulls Final Score: Phoenix escapes Chicago with an overtime win, 116-115

The Phoenix Suns are 4-4 and heading back to Phoenix. It wasn’t a pretty road trip, but two straight wins heading home have to feel good regardless of how they got them.

All eyes were on Bradley Beal, but it was Grayson Allen who stole the show. Allen finished the evening with 26 points and splashed in a career-high 8 threes.

It was also the turnover show, as Phoenix had a concerning 21 turnovers in a game filled with careless play for long stretches. Phoenix did play hard and the Bulls should get credit for their pressure, but the turnovers need to be addressed.

Top Performers

• Kevin Durant — 25 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 7-15 FG
• Grayson Allen — 26 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 9-16 FG, 8 threes
• Bradley Beal — 13 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 3-13 FG
• Zach LaVine — 22 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 7-13 FG
• Nikola Vucevic — 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 11-18 FG

1st Half

The Phoenix Suns started off the ball game on a 22-4 run to set the tone from the jump.

Bradley Beal hit back-to-back threes early in the first to gain some comfort in his debut. Beal’s first stint: 6 minutes, 6 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 2-4 FG.

Chicago went on a run to close out the quarter as soon as Beal took a seat. Phoenix led 24-6 when Beal subbed out, then went on a 14-3 run to cut it down to seven leading to a Suns timeout.

Alex Caruso’s sharp shooting got Chicago back in the game, as he drilled three straight 3-pointers. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 10 points after the first 12 minutes of action.

After the first quarter, the Suns led 36-28.

In the second quarter, the offense sputtered a bit as they never regained the fire they initially opened up with. Beal’s second stint didn’t go nearly as well as the first one did.

Phoenix scored just 21 points in the second quarter and essentially played with no rhythm or flow in that second period.

2nd Half

The Suns’ third quarter was a bit more organized than the second. They finished the quarter with 31 points, though the end of it was ugly as Chicago closed things out on an 8-0 run which carried over into the 4th quarter.

Grayson Allen’s hot shooting was keeping Phoenix afloat all night, especially every time the Bulls made a run.

A 13-0 run gave Chicago an 89-88 lead which led to a Frank Vogel timeout. The careless turnovers were piling up and the Bulls took advantage. The Bulls had 27 points off the Suns’ 19 turnovers in the first 48 minutes of action.

A Grayson Allen triple followed by a Jusuf Nurkic fadeaway then a Bradley Beal steal led to a Jordan Goodwin three which shifted the momentum back in Phoenix’s favor.

The Suns and Bulls traded blows throughout the final minutes. A critical offensive foul on Nurkic took away what would’ve been an easy bucket from Keita Bates-Diop with less than 30 seconds remaining.

The following possession, DeMar DeRozan drove it to the cup for a bucket to tie things at 107 with 15.7 seconds remaining.

Durant had a clean look to win it, but it missed the mark. Overtime we go.

Phoenix pulled it out in overtime. It was ugly, but they got it done. They outscored the Bulls 9-8 in the extra five minutes, and 4 of their nine points came from the charity stripe.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

KBD made some big defensive plays and hit a clutch three to put Phoenix in position to take the game. He was a team-high +19 on the night.

Game 8 of 82 down. Back to Phoenix, we go.

Up Next?

The In-Season Tournament begins.

Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. 8 p.m. on ESPN. Crazy court and all.