What We Learned From Suns' Statement Win Over Cavaliers

The Phoenix Suns have now picked up three-straight wins without Devin Booker after a dominant 126-113 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night.

Phoenix (30-19) had its best offensive showing without Booker, who remained out with his right ankle sprain, scoring 45 points in the third quarter and generating open looks all night long with seven players in double figures led by Dillon Brooks' 27 points.

The Cavaliers (29-21), who were without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland due to injury, had their five-game win streak snapped as they turned the ball over 22 times.

Jalen Green returned from a three-game absence after experiencing hamstring tightness and registered 11 points off the bench (3-7 3PT), but went back to the locker room in the fourth quarter after a scary fall where he went airborne and landed straight on his back.

Suns coach Jordan Ott said postgame that Green suffered a hip contusion, adding that his hamstring was fine.

Here were the main takeaways for the game for the Suns:

Suns Will Bring Energy No Matter The Circumstances

Down Devin Booker and on the second night of a back-to-back after a big win over the Detroit Pistons?

It didn't matter for the Suns, as they brought the energy from the opening tip, generating eight Cleveland turnovers in the first quarter alone as their 22 on the night led to 36 Phoenix points.

The Suns had 10 players with at least one steal, as they notched 15 steals as a team on the night.

The floodgates opened in the third quarter from this defensive activity, as the Suns shot 80% from the field and 70% from 3 in the period. They concluded the entire second half with a 72.2% field-goal percentage and 66.7% 3-point percentage.

"I think it started right away," Ott said postgame. "I don't know what it was in the first quarter, but it felt right off the bat. It was a little bit of everyone. We focused a lot on Donovan (Mitchell), setting up multiple bodies, just tremendous energy.

"Second night of a back-to-back, you can never tell. Initially I thought it took a minute to get us going, but our defensive energy was at a high level for most of the night. We forced that team into that. We made turnovers. We were doing something right on that end, and I think it was just all the five guys connecting on the defensive end."

Best 3-Point Shooting Game of Season Even Without Booker

Phoenix ended up with a season-high 23 3-pointers made and had 31 assists as a team, meaning it is now 9-1 when recording 30 or more assists.

The Suns won the fast break points 34-16 over the Cavaliers, which really helped them get in a rhythm on both sides of the ball.

Phoenix had not cracked over 110 points in their first six games this season without Booker, but really have found its rhythm the past two contests after scoring 114 against the Pistons Thursday and then followed that up with this showing over Cleveland.

It's clear everyone is bought into what the Suns want to do no matter who is on the floor, and Jordan Goodwin was a prime example of this against the Cavs with 17 points (5-for-8 from 3), five rebounds and three steals off the bench.

"The movement, just moving," Goodwin said of what's clicked offensively without Booker the last two games. "And also, I think our defense is getting us out in transition, so we get a lot of buckets where we don't gotta set the offense up.

"When we got Book, it's easy to set the offense up, but without him, it's a little bit difficult for us. So we getting out of transition, and we're making plays like that."

Suns Have Keen Ability to Defend Stars

Mitchell really struggled to get going against the Suns with five of his eight turnovers on the night coming in the first quarter.

He finished with 16 points, but only scored five before halftime and couldn't do enough to hold off the Suns' big second half.

The Suns have done a great job defending stars all season, and it's in large part due to the constant defensive pressure they can offer on them with both the first and second units.

Brooks, who usually starts on the opposing team's best player, attributed this defensive activity to one player in particular.

"(Jordan Goodwin) has been neutralizing every single best player on every single team for like the past three weeks," Brooks said (via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin). "That should be on notice. He's been playing out of his mind on the defensive end.

"Even when his shot is not going, he's doing a good job on the defensive end and rebounding the basketball. He's having a special season this year and that's got to be reccognized."

Goodwin detailed what goes into limiting what stars do against the Suns.

"Being ready for the matchup," Goodwin said. "We know who the guy is on that team, and we just trying to keep them under their average to give ourselves a chance to come out on top. But it's definitely it's a team effort. It's our mindset too, but we just trying to keep them under their average."

Devin Booker Back Sunday?

Booker, who is scheduled to be re-evaluated Sunday, has already been seen getting shots up after practice.

Phoenix has another tough test against a red-hot Los Angles Clippers team Sunday night, so is there a chance Booker returns then?

"You've seen his work on the court. You see what he's starting to do, so he's in a good place," Ott said postgame of Booker. "He did some more work today. The swelling, soreness. Now it's getting onto the court to play. That guy is relentless in trying to get back. He'll get back when he's ready and we'll be ready for him."

The injury report comes out around 5:00 p.m. MST, so the Suns could have key updates on both Booker and Green when it's released.

No matter when Booker comes back, the Suns could not be in a better spot from a momentum standpoint as he gears up for a return to the floor.

Tomorrow's game against L.A. tips off shortly after 6:00 p.m. MST.

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