PHOENIX — Kevin Durant scored 31 points, passing Elvin Hayes for 11th place all time, and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 120-107 in an In-Season Tournament game on Tuesday night.
Durant, playing in his 1,000th NBA game, needed 14 points to pass Hayes, who had 27,313 in his career. He achieved that in the first quarter on 6-of-6 shooting, including a 3-pointer and a free throw.
Durant scored 39 points in 46 minutes in a double-overtime win at Utah on Sunday. He has 27,330 in his career.
Devin Booker scored 28 for the Suns, who won their fourth in a row overall and are 2-1 in West Group A in the tournament while the Trail Blazers finish group play at 1-3. Phoenix plays its final group game Friday at Memphis.
Deandre Ayton, booed heavily by the Footprint Center sellout crowd in his return to Phoenix, scored 12 points in the first quarter and finished with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who lost their eighth in a row.
Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft out of Arizona, played his first five seasons with the Suns. He was traded to Portland in a three-team deal that saw longtime Portland star Damian Lillard go to Milwaukee and the Suns acquire Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic — both starters for the Suns on Tuesday.
Nurkic scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for Phoenix. Nassir Little had 13 points for Phoenix and Eric Gordon added 10.
Jerami Grant scored 26 points to lead Portland. Malcolm Brogdon returned from a strained left hamstring and scored 19 for the Trail Blazers.
The Suns again played without Bradley Beal, sidelined with lower back spasms for at least two more weeks. Yuta Watanabe (deep bruise in left thigh) also was out for Phoenix.
UP NEXT
Portland: Hosts Utah on Wednesday.
Phoenix: Hosts Golden State on Wednesday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
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Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Cactus Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.
