PHOENIX — The Clippers were hoping to spend the early weeks of the season building chemistry and sorting through their rotation combinations with a revamped roster.
That’s been hard to do with some of their core players missing games, and overlapping absences are making wins hard to come by too.
Jalen Green scored 29 points in his Phoenix debut, Devin Booker added 24 points and the Suns beat a Clippers team that was playing without stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, 115-102, on Thursday night.
Ivica Zubac had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Clippers, who held a 51-48 halftime lead before losing their third straight game. Cam Christie scored 17 off the bench, John Collins had 13 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 12.
The Clippers said Harden (23.3 points per game) missed the game for personal reasons, while Leonard (24.3 ppg) was sidelined with a right ankle sprain.
Green, a guard who missed the Suns’ first eight games with a right hamstring strain, played 23 minutes and shot 10 for 20 from the field, including 6 for 13 from 3-point range on a night when the Suns made 19 from behind the arc, one short of their season high.
Green was acquired from Houston in the offseason in the seven-team trade that sent Kevin Durant from Phoenix to the Rockets.
Grayson Allen, playing through an illness, scored 18 points, Mark Williams had 13 points and nine rebounds and Royce O’Neale scored 17, 11 in the third quarter when Phoenix outscored the Clippers 40-23 to take a 91-74 lead. The Suns had a 33-11 run in the third to open a 20-point lead. O’Neale made three 3-pointers during that stretch, and Booker sank two of his three 3-pointers.
The Suns took their biggest lead at 104-79 on an Allen 3-pointer with 7:53 remaining. The Clippers got within 11 with two minutes left but never pulled closer.
Bradley Beal made his first appearance in Phoenix since that ill-fitting marriage ended in divorce after last season, when the Suns waived him and ate the final two years and $110 million of his contract. Beal signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Clippers in the offseason, but his return to the desert did not go well.
The veteran guard, who was frequently sidelined by injuries during his two seasons with the Suns, had five points on 2-for-14 shooting from the field in 20 minutes. He was booed during introductions and every time he touched the ball during the game.
UP NEXT
The teams meet again Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Intuit Dome.