Nine players in double figures, and the game was over by halftime.
Devin Booker walked back onto the court at Phoenix's Footprint Center on Sunday night and the Suns looked like themselves again — which, for the rest of the NBA, is a troubling thing to witness.
Booker had been out seven games with a hamstring injury, and in his absence the league's best team had managed to stay the league's best team. But his return against Charlotte on December 19th felt like a statement anyway. He played 26 minutes, scored 16 points, and was on the bench watching garbage time when Phoenix finished off a 137-106 demolition of the Hornets — a margin that flatters nobody wearing teal.
The Suns improved to 24-5 with the win, nudging a half-game ahead of Golden State for the top spot in the Western Conference. The final score was also a season high in points, and the way Phoenix got there — nine players in double figures, shooting 56.8 percent from the floor, going 20 of 41 from three — suggested a team that had been waiting all week to exhale.
JaVale McGee led the scoring with 19 points in just 16 minutes off the bench. Mikal Bridges matched Booker's 16. Deandre Ayton posted a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Landry Shamet added 15 of his own. Jae Crowder and Chris Paul each chipped in 14, Cam Johnson 12, Cameron Payne 11. It was the kind of box score that makes opposing coaches stare at the ceiling.
The game was effectively over before halftime. Phoenix led 37-15 after the first quarter — a period in which Ayton alone had nine points and nine rebounds, Mikal Bridges scored eight, and Charlotte made just six field goals while shooting 21 percent. The Hornets attempted 11 threes in that quarter and made one. LaMelo Ball, the young star Charlotte had hoped would make things interesting, went scoreless on six attempts in the opening period and finished the night with nine points on 2-of-12 shooting. His line — nine points, ten rebounds, seven assists — looked better than the game felt for him.
Miles Bridges gave Charlotte something to feel decent about, scoring 26 points. Kelly Oubre Jr., who spent time in Phoenix before landing with the Hornets, added 16 in a return to his former arena. But the Suns scored 39 points in the third quarter alone — a new season high for a single period — and the outcome was never in doubt.
The evening carried a few subplots beyond the basketball. Hornets forward Cody Martin was placed in the NBA's health and safety protocol on Sunday, and three other games around the league were postponed entirely due to COVID-related issues. The game in Phoenix was officiated by only two referees after two of the three originally assigned were held out of the game; NBA official Bill Kennedy, who lives in the Phoenix area, was called in to help.
Suns coach Monty Williams acknowledged the league-wide strain with the measured tone of someone who has learned not to fight what he cannot control. Every time you refresh the news, he said, there's another name in the protocol. Unfortunate, but something everyone is navigating together.
There was also a quieter thread running through the night — the relationship between Williams and Charlotte coach James Borrego, who worked together as assistants in San Antonio and again in New Orleans. Borrego was generous about his former colleague, calling him a great leader and crediting him for what Phoenix has built. Williams returned the sentiment, suggesting Borrego deserves more recognition for how much Charlotte has improved this season.
The Hornets head to Utah on Monday. The Suns travel to Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Tuesday — a game that, given the way Phoenix looked Sunday night, the Lakers might be watching with some concern.
Notable Quotes
Every time you hit refresh there's a new person in the protocol. It's unfortunate but we've dealt with it also.— Suns coach Monty Williams, on the league's COVID situation
I learned a lot from Monty. He's a great leader, a great man. I'm thrilled for him where he has his program.— Hornets coach James Borrego, on his former colleague Monty Williams
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Nine players in double figures — is that unusual, or does this Suns team just do that?
It's unusual for any team, but Phoenix has the depth to make it feel routine. When Booker's healthy and the starters are clicking, the bench doesn't have to carry anything. Sunday they all just happened to catch fire at once.
What does Booker's return actually change for them?
Mostly it closes a vulnerability. They stayed near the top without him, but he's the one who can create his own shot late in close games. That matters in the playoffs more than in a blowout of Charlotte.
LaMelo Ball had a rough night. Is that worth reading into?
Probably not too much. He had ten rebounds and seven assists, which tells you he was engaged. The shooting just wasn't there. Six missed shots in the first quarter against a defense that was suffocating from the opening tip — that's a hard environment for anyone.
The COVID situation seems like it's hovering over everything right now.
It really is. Three games postponed the same night, two referees pulled before tip-off, a Hornets player entering protocol that afternoon. Williams said something honest about it — that you just keep refreshing and there's always a new name.
The Williams-Borrego friendship felt like a real moment in an otherwise lopsided game.
It did. Borrego was genuinely warm about Williams, and Williams pushed back on the idea that Borrego doesn't get enough credit. It's the kind of thing that gets lost in a 31-point final score.
What should we be watching for as the Suns head toward the Lakers?
Whether they can sustain this level with Booker on a minutes limit. He sat the entire fourth quarter Sunday. The Lakers game will tell us more about how much rope the coaching staff is willing to give him.