Kevin Durant drops 40 points as Phoenix Suns down Indiana Pacers

The Phoenix Suns (24-18) posted a 117-110 win over the Indiana Pacers (24-18) Sunday at Footprint Center to extend their win streak to five games.

Phoenix has won 10 of its last 13 games. That's mainly from the elite play of the Suns' Big 3, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal, who have been healthy recently and played their 10th game together Sunday.

Against the Pacers, the trio again showed what they can do when in sync.

Durant scored 40 points (one shy of his season-high), shooting 18-of-25 including four made 3s, nine rebounds, three blocks, and two assists. Booker had 26 points, a game-high eight assists, six rebounds, and two steals. Beal recorded 25 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Phoenix led for most of the game, though Indiana was able to take leads briefly at the start of the second quarter and in the closing minutes.

The Pacers took a 105-103 lead on a fast break pull-up trey by Buddy Hield (18 points, 6-of-10 FG, game-high five 3s) at 3:20 left to play.

Then Durant nailed his fourth 3 during the Suns’ ensuing possession to put them up by one. The game stayed tight, then Beal made three of Phoenix’s last four field goals and assisted on another to Grayson Allen for Phoenix to pull away with the win.

Pacers All-Star Pascal Siakam fouled out late in the game with 15 points, seven assists, and four rebounds.

Next for Phoenix is the second of back-to-back home games against the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

Durant continues heating up for Suns in 3rd quarter

Phoenix maintained the lead over Indiana at the third's closing, 91-83, and the period's widest margin was 10.

Kevin Durant added seven to his game-high 27 points in the period. He's shot a stellar 12-of-18, including 3-of-5 from the arc. The other two in Phoenix's Big 3, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker, currently have 23 and 17 points, respectively. Beal's hitting a solid 70% of his attempts.

Four of Indiana's players (Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, and Buddy Hield) have scored in double figures; Jalen Smith's 15 is the team-high.

Suns lead at half behind Big 3

Phoenix leads Indiana 65-61 at the end of the second quarter.

After the Pacers trailed by eight to end the first, they went on a 9-0 run to upend the deficit 34-33, their first lead since 6-5. Then the Suns fought back behind Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker.

Durant scored 14 of his 20 points, Beal scored nine of his 13 in the second, and Booker had five of his 17 in the second. The Suns' only other scorer in the period was Eric Gordon's only field goal in the game thus far.

The Suns pushed their lead up to 11 again on two made free throws by Beal around 2:30 left in the half, and the Pacers had a 12-5 run thereafter.

The Pacers' top outside shooter Buddy Hield put up all nine of his points in the second.

Booker's hot hand powers Suns' 1st quarter-lead

Phoenix was up 33-25 over Indiana after the first period.

Similar to Devin Booker's 52-point outing against New Orleans, he's off to a fast start shooting 5-of-8 for 12 points to lead all scorers.

The Suns shot an efficient 13-of-21, and outscored the Pacers in the paint, 20-10. Phoenix had its biggest lead 14 points on two straight buckets scored by Booker, the second at the 5:35 mark.

In addition, the Suns outpaced the Pacers 10-0 on fast break points, and 20-12 in the paint.

Former Suns backup big Jalen Smith came off Indiana's bench for his own impressive first quarter-performance, scoring eight. That includes his two made 3s, three rebounds, and a block.

Starting lineups

The Suns are starting guards Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, forwards Grayson Allen and Kevin Durant, and Jusuf Nurkic in the middle.

The Pacers are opening with T.J. McConnell and Buddy Hield in the backcourt, Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam at the three and four, plus Myles Turner in the paint.

Pacers star Haliburton out, Suns' Goodwin in

Indiana's emergent star point guard Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring) has been downgraded to inactive against Phoenix, per Pacers coach Rick Carlisle in his pregame media session. Carlisle added that their backup PG Andrew Nembard has been upgraded to available.

Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said backup guard Jordan Goodwin (ankle) will play.

Injury report: Suns' Bol out, Pacers' Haliburton questionable

Phoenix's pregame injury report is minimal. Backup big Bol Bol (right foot sprain) will miss his fourth consecutive game. Reserve Jordan Goodwin (right ankle sprain) is probable. Damion Lee (right meniscus surgery) is out again, as he has been all season.

Indiana's leading scorer, All-Star Tyrese Haliburton (left hamstring strain injury management), is questionable. The league assists leader had a game-high 17 assists in his return against Portland after missing the previous five games. Additional Pacers on questionable status are Andrew Nembhard (thoracic spine sprain), two-way players Oscar Tshiebwe, Isaiah Wong, and Kendall Brown (G League). Isaiah Jackson (concussion) is out.

Siakam playing 2nd game for Pacers after trade

Two-time All-Star forward Pascal Siakam will appear in his second game for Indiana since he was traded from the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. He had 21 points, six rebounds, three assists, and one steal in his Pacers debut against Portland.

Known for his versatility and length at 6-foot-8, he was one of Toronto's former core players during its 2019 title run and among the trade market's hottest commodities. The eight-year veteran was Toronto's leading scorer, averaging 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists before the trade.

Suns host Pacers

The Phoenix Suns (23-18) host the Indiana Pacers (24-18) Sunday at 6 p.m., at Footprint Center.

This is the first of back-to-back home games for Phoenix, and the final of Indiana's six-game road trip.

The Suns have won four in a row and nine of the last 12, including a road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday The Suns' Big 3 of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant have shown growth playing together during the streak and will play their 10th game together Sunday.

Indiana, the NBA's top-ranked offense, has lost three of its last five, including the team's most recent game at the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.

Phoenix is eighth in the Western Conference standings, and Indiana is seventh in the East.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns beat Pacers, Big 3 pushes for 5th straight win