Cam Thomas becomes youngest player in NBA history with three straight 40-point games as Nets lose

Deandre Ayton matched his career high with 35 points, Booker scored 19 in his first game since Christmas as the Suns defeated Cam Thomas and the Brooklyn Nets 116-112 on Tuesday night.

These aren’t the Phoenix Suns who collapsed after Devin Booker was injured.

The team he returned to is growing and he doesn’t expect that to change.

“We’re going to get this going now,” Deandre Ayton said. ‘Suns basketball on the road for sure.’

Booker missed 21 games with a left groin strain. The Suns went on a nine-game losing streak early in his absence, but held up well late on, winning nine of 11.

“Now we’re back and we’ve got our guy back so he knows we’re ready and loaded,” Ayton said.

Thomas, 21, led a late charge and finished with 43 points, becoming the youngest player in NBA history with three consecutive 40-point games. He had his career-high 44 and 47 points in his previous two games, but the Nets are 1-2 during Thomas’ streak.

“Obviously I’d rather have the win because it sounds better when you have these 40-point games with the two (games) we lost, but it’s nice to have my name in history,” Thomas said.

Mikal Bridges scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and played a key role in the defensive effort that cooled Thomas down long enough for the Suns to use a 13-4 run to build a 109-97 lead with 2: 25 remaining. .

Booker scored six points and set up Ayton for another basket during that stretch.

“That’s all I want, just competition and to be back with the band and feel that energy, feel that presence,” Booker said. “The team has it all going right now, so I just insert myself in a non-disruptive way and try to keep the flow that they have.”

Thomas helped the Nets mostly from the free throw line, and his intentional miss with 4.1 seconds remaining left the Suns up 114-112. He then fouled Ayton, who finished with two free throws after shooting 14 of 18 from the field and grabbing 15 rebounds.

Nic Claxton and TJ Warren each scored 17 points for the Nets, who lost back-to-back nights after trading for Kyrie Irving and fell to 5-9 without the injured Kevin Durant. They opted out of playing Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith, the players they acquired from Dallas in the Irving trade.

Ben Simmons had two points and six assists after missing five games with left knee pain.

GRIZZLIES 104, BULLS 89

Ja Morant scored 34 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 24 points and five blocks as Memphis rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Chicago.

Desmond Bane finished with 17 points and Brandon Clarke had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who snapped a three-game skid.

Nikola Vucevic had 28 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls, whose three-game winning streak ended. Chicago played without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan because of a sore right hip.

Zach LaVine scored 24 points for Chicago.

Nuggets 146, TIMBER WOLVES 112

Nikola Jokic recorded his 19th triple-double of the season at halftime as Denver mounted a 49-point first quarter to defeat Minnesota.

Jokic finished with 20 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds. It was the second time in his career that the big man had posted a triple-double at halftime. Jokic took a seat late in the third quarter.

Denver led 49-19 after the first quarter, including a 32-2 run, as the Nuggets were shooting 79.2 percent from the ground. The 49 points tied for the second most in a quarter in franchise NBA history. Michael Porter Jr. led the way by scoring 19 of his 30 points in the first period.

Aaron Gordon added 24 for the Nuggets, who set season highs in points and assists (44).

Anthony Edwards and Luka Garza had 19 points for Minnesota.

KNICKS 102, MAGIC 98

Jalen Brunson scored 25 points and made the go-ahead basket with 1:13 to play, Julius Randle had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and New York beat Orlando.

Brunson’s shot to the bench put the Knicks ahead for good at 94-93. He then fed Jericho Sims for a dunk and a three-point lead.

The teams combined to make 10 free throw attempts in the last 7.7 seconds. The only miss came from Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, who intentionally tried to set up a tying basket with 2.3 seconds remaining.

Markelle Fultz led the Magic with 21 points. Franz Wagner added 18 points and Banchero finished with 16 points after being limited to four in the first half.

PELICANS 116, HAWKS 107

Brandon Ingram scored 30 points, CJ McCollum added 21 as New Orleans beat Atlanta for its third straight win.

Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 14 rebounds for New Orleans.

The Pelicans led 111-95 when Trey Murphy III hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 3:24 to go. Atlanta responded with a 7-0 run, but New Orleans held on.

Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 22 points for Atlanta and Dejounte Murray scored 19. Trae Young had 16 points and 16 assists.

THUNDER 133, LAKERS 130

LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record as the NBA’s all-time leader in points when the Lakers fell 133-130 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

James led the Lakers with 38 points entering the game, needing just 36 points to break the record.

Shai-Gilgeous Alexander led the Thunder with 30 points in the win, while Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams scored 20-plus points with 20 and 25 respectively.