On Thursday night, the Phoenix Suns made history, setting a new franchise record with their 18th consecutive win following their 114-103 conquest of the Detroit Pistons. The Suns managed to accomplish that feat without superstar Devin Booker, who injured his hamstring in the win against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
Suns' balanced attack sinks Pistons
The Suns relied on a balanced attack to defeat the hapless Pistons, with seven of their players scoring in double figures. Cameron Payne and Cam Johnson provided the spark off the bench, leading the Suns with 19 points apiece. Mikal Bridges excelled on both ends of the floor, scoring 18 points and recording four steals.
Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul again registered double-doubles for Phoenix as they picked up the slack with Booker sidelined. Ayton scored 17 points and grabbed 11 boards, while Paul recorded 12 points and 12 assists.
Detroit made things interesting in the third quarter, outscoring Phoenix, 30-18, to trim the Suns' lead to six points. The Pistons fell short in their upset bid, as they dropped to 4-18 for the season. They have struggled mightily on the road this season, with Detroit carrying a woeful 2-10 slate in its away games.
For the first time this season, the Suns are in sole possession of the first place in the Western Conference standings. They currently hold a half-game lead over the Warriors, whom they beat just a couple of days ago. The league's top two teams will face each other in an immediate rematch on Friday, with the Suns taking on the Warriors this time in the Bay Area.
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Suns vs Warriors rematch to be shown on national TV
The first meeting between the two sides this season was a rating hit, with TNT's broadcast drawing an average of 2.4 million viewers. That is TNT's most-watched non-opening night game since the Milwaukee Bucks faced the Los Angeles Lakers on December 19, 2019.
ESPN wants a share of the pie with the NBA announcing that the media giants will now broadcast Friday's showdown between the Suns and the Warriors in a rare TV schedule flex. ESPN was initially scheduled to broadcast the Battle of Los Angeles between the Lakers and the Clippers.
LeBron James will suit up for the Lakers in that game after his positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday proved to be a false positive. The Suns vs Warriors game is must-see TV, though, with the league's best record on the line in this matchup.
The Suns will be looking to extend their winning streak to 19 games in this contest, the longest of any NBA team in the last five seasons. But, they are still 15 wins shy of the record set by the Lakers in the 1971-72 season.
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