Shorthanded Suns can't keep up with Kings in home loss

The Phoenix Suns fell into too deep of a hole Friday night in the third quarter against Sacramento, and despite Devin Booker's best efforts fell 114-106 to the Kings at Footprint Center in the first meeting of the season between the teams.

The Suns (12-10), playing without injured stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, relied on their 1-2 punch of Booker (28 points) and Eric Gordon (19) to try to stay in the game, and got to within 96-90 on a Booker free throw with 6:28 left.

But the final turning point might have come just 20 seconds later, when Phoenix's Jusuf Nurkic was whistled for a flagrant foul on the Kings' De-Aaron Fox, apparently hitting the Sacramento star in the foot. Fox made 2-of-3 free throws, then followed with a step-back 3 to make it 101-90 with 6:01 left.

Fox, fourth in the NBA in scoring, ended with a game-high 34 for the Kings (12-8), who have won three straight against Phoenix dating back to last season. Fox had 23 in the fourth quarter.

About 90 seconds later, Booker was called for a flagrant foul when he pulled Domantas Sabonis' shoulder as he drove to the basket. The two fouls belied what really was a robust defensive effort by the Suns much of the night with the exception of rebounding — the Kings got too many second chances off 15 offensive rebounds.

The Suns also were hampered by inconsistent offensive performance, including 11 for 33 from 3 and missing 8 free throws.

Kings run away with 3rd period, lead Suns by 12

After building an 11-point lead to start the third quarter, the Suns completely collapsed. Sacramento dominated the period with a crazy 30-8 run and leads Phoenix 83-71.

Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox are leading the Kings with 14 points apiece, and Sabonis also had 14 rebounds for a double-double (he's third in the NBA in that category).

The Suns are shooting 28-for-66 (42.4%) from the field.

Kings' 10-0 run early in 3rd closes gap with Suns

Keita Bates-Diop dunked in the first minute of the third quarter to give the Suns their biggest lead of the game, 61-50.

They haven't scored since. Sacramento went on a 10-0 run to make it 61-60 with 8:34 left in the period.

De'Aaron Fox is leading the Kings with 11 points but Sacramento is getting balanced offense across the lineup.

Devin Booker warms up cold Suns just before halftime

Everyone in the Suns lineup not named Devin Booker or Eric Gordon pretty much were seasonably chilly so far in this one. Sacramento led 47-46 with 3 minutes left in the first half and a big reason were the missed shots from Phoenix:

Keita Bates-Diop: 1-4 from field, 0-2 from line.

Jusuf Nurkic: 1-5, 1-2.

Drew Eubanks: 1-4.

So, it was up to Booker to right the ship. Starting with a free throw, he scored 7 of the next 9 Suns points to give them a 54-47 lead, and that seemed to warm up everyone else: Gordon hit a three, and then Chimezie Metu made a layup from Gordon's alley-oop pass, and Phoenix took a deceivingly comfortable 59-50 lead into the halftime locker room. The Suns closed out the half on a 13-3 run, playing tough defense during the stretch.

Booker (18) and Gordon (14) scored 32 of the Suns' 59 points; Metu, playing against his former Sacramento team for the first time, chipped in 8.

One thing worth watching: Nassir Little was tangled up toward the end of the first quarter with the Kings' Javale McGee and Metu, and did not return for the rest of the half.

Suns start fast in 1st quarter, but Kings hang around

The Suns came out hot, hitting their first three 3-pointers, and jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first 2:34. But Phoenix missed its next five from beyond the arc, and also missed three of its first four free throws, helping let Sacramento claw back and eventually tie the game 22-22 on a De'Aaron Fox driving layup with 71 seconds left in the quarter.

The Suns regained the lead on a pair of free throws by Jordan Goodwin and his floating 8-footer before Fox made it 26-24 with 3 seconds remaining.

Starting lineups for Suns-Kings game

This is Frank Vogel's Suns lineup tonight: Guards Devin Booker and Eric Gordon, forwards Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop, and center Jusuf Nurkic.

The Kings' starting lineup: guards De'Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter, forwards Harrison Barnes and Keegan Murray, and center Domantas Sabonis.

Suns coach Frank Vogel's pre-game take

Here's what Suns coach Frank Vogel had to say heading into Friday's game:

On slowing down the Kings, perhaps starting with De’Aaron Fox: “It’s not just De’Aaron (Fox), obviously it starts with De’Aaron, he’s one of the fastest guys in the league and he’s a load to try and slow down with his shiftiness. You got to bring multiple defenders to him, so it starts with him, but their ability to run and shoot threes, their ability to have (Domantas) Sabonis rebound and push himself with four shooters running with him, all are great concerns in slowing them down in transition.”

On challenges Devin Booker might face without Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant: “Yeah, he’s going to see a lot of double-teams. With Devin, he’s done a phenomenal job shifting to a new position in playing point guard and everybody has to understand that there’s going to be some nights or some stretches where there’s a little bit higher turnovers than we are comfortable with and that just comes with this type of transition. He’s done a really good job throughout most of the year with ball security and I expect him to do the same tonight.”

On the difficulties of evaluating a starting lineup and team with multiple injuries: “It’s difficult to evaluate five-man lineups with your key guys, but it’s been easier to evaluate our depth because guys have gotten extended runs because of the injuries. If we had full health, we would not really know what we had from a roster standpoint and there’s still some guys we need to take a look at, but the guys that have been in there have had a pretty solid body of work of showing us what they can and can’t do, which gives us an idea on how we want to use them. But what positions that I want to put them in to be successful and I think all that stuff will be a silver-lining when we do finally get healthy.”

Kings coach Mike Brown said he thought the Suns always represent a challenge regardless who might be out.

“They are a good team. There is no easy game in this business, no matter who is in or who is out. Frank Vogel and his staff do a great job with these guys. We are going to end up playing these guys five times this year; three times here. It is an opportunity for us to go out and see how we measure up.”

Still no Big 3 for Suns against Kings

The Suns on Thursday ruled Durant and Grayson Allen out for Friday's game with the Kings, The Republic's Duane Rankin reported.

Durant is out with a left ankle sprain that occurred in Tuesday's game against the Lakers in which he played until the end. Allen, who also played Tuesday, is out with a groin strain. In addition, Beal, who has been out with a low-back strain, has been working out but is not expected to play Friday, though Vogel said he is closer to returning.

The Suns have yet to play a regular season game with all three of their big-name All-Stars — Durant, Beal and Booker — in the lineup at the same time. All had missed some time with injuries prior to Friday's game.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Shorthanded Suns can't keep up with Kings in home loss