Booker gem as Suns eclipse Mavs; Bucks end Cleveland streak

LOS ANGELES: Devin Booker produced another high-scoring gem to help the Phoenix Suns notch a seventh-straight victory on Wednesday (Jan 25) as Milwaukee shrugged off the sacking of coach Adrian Griffin to end Cleveland's unbeaten streak.

Booker, who scored 52 points in a victory over New Orleans last Friday, finished with 46 points in a 132-109 Phoenix rout of the Dallas Mavericks in Texas.

The talented point guard made six-of-10 three-pointers and finished with seven rebounds and three assists.

Booker was backed by 20 points from Bradley Beal while Grayson Allen had 15 and Kevin Durant 12.

Luka Doncic led the Dallas scoring with 34 points, including four three-pointers, but the Mavericks were left ruing a second half collapse after leading by as much as 16 in the second quarter.

The game pivoted on a devastating Phoenix performance in the third quarter, with the Suns outscoring their hosts 43-20, Booker contributing 22 of those points.

"The team started playing for me," Booker said of his third quarter display. "Passes were on-time and on-target; I just finished the job by making the shots."

The win leaves Phoenix on 26-18, occupying fifth place in the Western Conference.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks showed no sign of the turmoil gripping the franchise as they blew past the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers 126-116.

Milwaukee shocked the rest of the NBA on Tuesday after abruptly firing head coach Griffin mid-season despite the team having one of the best records in the league. Griffin is set to be replaced by former Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers.

With Griffin gone, it was left to assistant Bucks coach Joe Prunty to take charge of Wednesday's home game with the Cavs, who had thumped Milwaukee 135-95 a week ago and arrived