The Phoenix Suns, dragged by the 34 points of their star Devin Booker, beat the defending champion of Golden State, 134-105, who finished without Klay Thompson, sent off for the first time since the beginning of his career in the NBA, or his 651 / per game in the league. Perhaps conditioned by an evening of poor mood (2 points and 1/8 shooting), the 32-year-old Californian was sanctioned for an unsportsmanlike foul on Booker in the middle of the third quarter. But then he was expelled, after a heated verbal confrontation between the two players, and his invectives towards the referees. “I’ve always loved Klay Thompson. From my very beginnings I said I wanted to be like him – Booker’s post-match comment on Thompson – but that doesn’t stop us from being rivals and saying little things from time to time … “, added the Suns star, who broke 30 points for the third consecutive time and is now averaging 32 points. Thompson’s ejection destabilized the Warriors who, from a +6 lead, went down to -13 which they failed to catch up. Behind Booker, the Suns’ top scorers were Mikal Bridges (17 points), Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul (16 points each). For Golden State, Stephen Curry scored 21 points (missed his first free throw of the season on 23rd attempt) and Jordan Poole 17. In New Orleans, Luka Doncic scored 37 points (plus 11 rebounds and 7 assists), but the his performance was not enough to avoid the defeat of Dallas against the Pelicans (113-111), despite the home team lacking important elements, especially Zion Williamson. Doncic himself missed the three-point shot that would have given the Mavericks victory in the final seconds of the match. However, the Slovenian is the first player in the history of the Dallas franchise to start a season with three games above 30 points. Thanks to this third win in four games, Trey Murphy III’s Pelicans (22 points) and CJ McCollum (14 points and 11 assists) move up to second place in the Western Conference behind Portland. In the east, Washington is on the same level (3-1) after the home win against Detroit (120-99) with 25 points from Kyle Kuzma.
