New place, same result: Jazz fall to the Suns in the first NBA Cup game

SALT LAKE CITY – The court was different. The tournament name had even changed. However, the result was still the same for the Utah Jazz.

Devin Booker had 31 points and Bradley Beal added 24 to give the Phoenix Suns a 120-112 victory over the Utah Jazz Tuesday at the Delta Center in both teams’ first NBA Cup game. Utah has yet to win a home game this season.

Utah used an 11-2 run in the third quarter – highlighted by a pair of drives from rookie Kyle Filipowski – to cut the Suns’ lead, which had previously been 18 points, to six, but the Jazz never got any closer.

Booker is responsible for this. Every time the Jazz seemed to make a push, Booker had an answer. He scored 15 points in the final frame and went 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

And when he wasn’t scoring, he was being creative. After Lauri Markkanen cut the lead to eight points with 2:30 left, Booker drove into the box and kicked the ball to Ryan Dunn for a 3-pointer that stopped Utah’s momentum again.

John Collins had 29 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Jazz, who fell to 2-8 on the season. Filipowksi scored a career-high 18 points and six rebounds and Lauri Markkanen added 17 points for Utah.

The Jazz now have an uphill climb ahead of them if they want to compete for the NBA Cup. Utah will play three more Cup games, starting with next Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

This story will be updated.