The Sun took the Pioneers 120-107 on the 21st, pulling out a wave of four straight wins. Kevin Durant scored 31 points, giving him 27,331 career points, passing legendary Elvin Hayes for 11th place on the all-time scoring list and 78 points shy of Moses Malone for 10th place.
On breaking the record, Durant said, "These great players set the standard and made the NBA what it is today, it's an honor to be compared to these guys, it's cool, and I'll keep trying."
Deandre Ayton, in his first regular game against the SUNS since being traded to the Pioneers, scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, but had a minus of minus-33. Booker praised Ayton's performance in an interview, "I found that he played very hard today, I gave him a challenge to play like this every game."
Jusuf Nurkic, who came to the SUNS in the Ayton trade, exploded in the third quarter, scoring 11 points and six rebounds on all five shots, and his performance is getting better. Nokic also explained his position in the SUNS, "I'm not going to do whatever I want just because I'm the main player, people need to understand that I'm here to make sacrifices, do the little things, just to win."