PHOENIX – Without injured stars Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns’ best hope of defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night rested on the shoulders of Devin Booker.

That didn’t really happen.

The Thunder bombarded and swarmed Booker from start to finish, daring virtually any other player to beat them, and that strategy paid off in a 99-83 loss for Phoenix.

Booker scored 12 points on 2-10 shooting from the field, including four turnovers and a plus/minus of -29. Josh Okogie led the Suns with 15 points.

The Suns are now 9-4 this season and 1-1 in the NBA Cup. It was the first time all season that Phoenix was held to fewer than 100 points.

Scoring was everything for Phoenix, which was also missing Grayson Allen due to injury.

It was a terribly slow start for the Suns, who found themselves down 29-14 after the first 12 minutes of play. Phoenix made just three of 21 shots to open the action while making just one of 11 free throw attempts. Josh Okogie was the only Suns player with more than four points late in the first.

With one minute left in the first half, the Suns completed an 11-2 run before finally going into the locker room 48-36. Booker went 0-6 from the field in the first half as the Thunder had nine players on the scoresheet.

The third quarter was no better for Phoenix – despite a deficit reduced to 11 – trailing 83-60 at the start of the fourth. The Thunder had just five turnovers in the first three quarters while outscoring the Suns 44-18 in the paint.

Typically, in a blowout loss, teams would empty their bench and wave the white flag at the start of the fourth – although with point differences being a tiebreaker in NBA Cup play, Mike Budenholzer opted to keep his starters to minimize the damage until the fifth. minute in the fourth minute after the Suns failed to cut their 20-point deficit.

Oklahoma City comfortably held that lead until the final buzzer sounded.

The Suns finish their four-game road trip Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.