Durant scores 43, hits game-winning shot as Suns rally from 23 down to beat Bulls 115-113

PHOENIX — Kevin Durant hit a contested 17-foot jumper with 1.6 seconds left to help the Phoenix Suns erase a 23-point deficit and stun the Chicago Bulls 115-113 on Monday night.

The Suns have won six straight.

Durant finished with 43 points, eight assists and six rebounds, one night after scoring 40 in a win over the Indiana Pacers. Bradley Beal scored 18 and Devin Booker added 16.

It was a frantic final minute that saw Durant hit a wide-open 3-pointer — after an offensive rebound by Drew Eubanks — to give the Suns a 113-111 lead with 29.3 seconds remaining. But Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan responded with a short jumper to tie it at 113 with 22.9 seconds left.

That set up the final possession. Grayson Allen threw the inbounds pass to Jusuf Nurkic, who found Durant, who then pulled up for the jumper with Bulls defenders draped all over him. It went in anyway.

Coby White led the Bulls with 26 points. DeRozan added 21 and Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 17 rebounds.

The Bulls built a 66-49 halftime lead despite playing without two-time All-Star Zach LaVine, who missed the game with a sprained right ankle. But the Suns fought back from a 23-point margin in the third, cutting the lead to 90-83 heading into the fourth.

Phoenix kept pushing in the final quarter and took its first lead of the game at 95-94 on Durant’s pull-up jumper with less than seven minutes left. That game stayed tight from that point forward, with the lead changing hands multiple times.

The Bulls dominated much of the first half, jumping out to a 19-point lead by early in the second quarter. White led the team with 13 points before the break while Alex Caruso had 12 points on four 3-pointers.

The Suns were playing their second game on back-to-back nights and looked like a tired team. Durant — who was named the Western Conference Player of the Week earlier Monday — shot 4 of 13 in the first half, including 0 of 6 on 3-pointers.

He saved his best for the second half, making 12 of his 19 shots.

UP NEXT

Bulls: Travel to L.A. Lakers on Thursday.

Suns: Travel to Dallas on Wednesday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA