Phoenix Suns win second straight behind Devin Booker's 30 points against Atlanta Hawks

Devin Booker’s game-high 30 points led the Phoenix Suns (41-29) to a 128-115 win over the Atlanta Hawks (30-39) on Thursday.

This is Phoenix’s second consecutive victory in back-to-back homes games. Atlanta has dropped its last two, splitting their two-game season series with the Suns.

Phoenix is now 12 wins over the .500 mark, the highest its been this season.

Kevin Durant had 19 points for Phoenix, but struggled on 5-of-15 shooting and 2-of-8 from deep. He hit a milestone for his 2,000th 3-pointer made in his career during the second quarter.

Bradley Beal had seven points and team-high nine assists for the Suns.

The Hawks’ Dejounte Murray had the team-high 29 points, game-high 10 assists, and nine rebounds in their loss.

Phoenix shot well, hitting nearly 55%, including 52.5% from the 3, and had its largest lead of 14 points at eight minutes left to play from a 10-0 run.

The Suns will embark on a five-game road trip, including their next two at the San Antonio Spurs, beginning Saturday at 5 p.m.

Suns' Devin Booker, Grayson Allen get hot in 3rd quarter

Grayson Allen scored 10 of his total 13 points and Devin Booker put up eight of his 21 in the third quarter, helping Phoenix lead Atlanta, 96-93, entering the final period.

After the Hawks reclaimed the lead at 79-78 on a 3 by Wesley Matthews at the 5:23 mark, the Suns went on a 16-6 run for the next three minutes.

During that surge, Eric Gordon (15 points) assisted two 3s by Grayson Allen, and Gordon made one to cap off the run as Phoenix went up by nine over Atlanta.

Kevin Durant hits 3-point milestone, sparks Suns' run in 2nd quarter

Kevin Durant scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter as Phoenix entered the intermission leading Atlanta, 65-60.

He's hit on just 2-of-8 shooting thus far, and has gone 5-of-5 from the line, and 2-of-4 from deep. Durant's first 3 was the 2,000th made of his career, and became just the 16th player in NBA history to reach that mark.

The Suns regained the lead at 43-41 with 7:20 left in the half, and capped off a 17-4 run on two made free throws by Bol Bol (two points, three rebounds, two assists) for Phoenix’s biggest lead of 14.

Dejounte Murray (game-high 18 points) and the Hawks fought back to keep the score close in the half's closing minutes.

Devin Booker's hot hand keeps Suns close in 1st quarter

Devin Booker scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, but Phoenix is down 37-30 to Atlanta after the first quarter.

The Hawks took control of the lead and the game after the 10:34 mark in the first quarter. They’re lead grew to 14 on a trey by Dejounte Murray (16 points) halfway through the first quarter.

Suns coach Frank Vogel called his second timeout to stop that run, and to awaken his underwhelming offense that committed four of its six total turnovers during that stretch. Atlanta capitalized eight points on those takeaways.

The Suns eventually cut the lead to five late in the period.

Starting lineups

The Suns will start guards Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen and Kevin Durant at the three and four spots, and Jusuf Nurkic in the middle.

The Hawks are starting its second-best scorer Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic in the backcourt, forwards Vit Krejci and De'Andre Hunter, and Clint Capela at center.

Royce O'Neale in for Suns

The Republic's Duane Rankin reported Royce O'Neale (shoulder), one of Phoenix's top backup forwards, has been upgraded to available.

Suns coach Frank Vogel said in his pregame media session that Royce O'Neale was questionable and wanted to play.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder said backup forward Wes Matthews (illness) is available.

Injury reports: O'Neale questionable for Suns; 3 Hawks starters out

One of Phoenix's top reserves Royce O'Neale (right shoulder contusion) is questionable. Josh Okogie (Lower Abdominal Strain) will miss his 10th straight game, and Damion Lee (Right Meniscus Surgery) remains out as he's been since the start of the season.

Atlanta will be without three of its starters. The team's three-time All-Star and the NBA's second-best in assists Trae Young (left fifth finger torn ligament) is sidelined for the 12th straight game. Jalen Johnson (right ankle) and Saddiq Bey (left knee torn ACL) are also out. Kobe Bufkin (left big toe sprain), AJ Griffin (right ankle sprain), Mouhamed Gueye (right UCL sprain) aren't playing either. Wesley Matthews (illness) is questionable.

More Suns: Kevin Durant passes Shaquille O'Neal, now 8th on NBA all-time scoring list

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns get second straight win behind Booker's 30 against Hawks