Jae Crowder scored 26 points, Devin Booker added 24 and the Phoenix Suns tied an NBA record with 18 3-pointers in the first half on the way to a 126-120 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday night.
The long balls came in bunches for both teams in this contest, which at times resembled a game of H-O-R-S-E. The Suns finished with a franchise-record 25 3-pointers and the Rockets added 17. The combined total of 42 3s was one shy of an NBA record.
The Suns jumped out to an 81-58 lead by halftime after making 18 of 24 (75%) 3s. Crowder was causing a big chunk of the damage, scoring all of his points in the first half while making 8 of 9 from behind the arc as a socially distanced crowd got louder with each shot.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker is pressured by Houston Rockets forward Kelly Olynyk (41) and guard Armoni Brooks during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, April 12, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP PhotoMatt York)
Crowder had previously never made more than six 3-pointers in a game. The Suns matched the record set by the Utah Jazz, who hit 18 3s in the first half earlier this season in a game against Orlando.
Despite the Suns’ hot shooting, the Rockets were able to stay relatively close because they were pouring in buckets as well. The Suns led 103-88 at the end of the third.
Houston pulled within 114-109 with 5:45 remaining but Phoenix responded with the next six points — on three rare 2-point buckets — and the Suns were able to hold on for the win.
Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder (99) celebrates his three pointer with guard Devin Booker during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Monday, April 12, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP PhotoMatt York)
Christian Wood led the Rockets with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Kevin Porter Jr. added 22 points.
Phoenix was undeniably on a roll, especially in the first half, but one reason was Houston’s poor defense. Several of the Suns’ looks were wide open.
The Rockets have lost eight of their past nine, including the last three in a row, and fell to 14-40 this season. The Suns have won nine of 10 and improved to 38-15.
Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. and Phoenix Suns forward Cameron Johnson, right, battle for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, April 12, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP PhotoMatt York)
TIP-INS
Rockets: Houston was without G Sterling Brown (left knee soreness), G Dante Exum (right calf strain), G Eric Gordon (right groin strain), F Danuel House Jr. (right ankle sprain) and G/F David Nwaba (right wrist sprain).
Suns: F Abdel Nader (knee soreness) missed his 12th straight game. ... This was the first season sweep for the Suns against the Rockets since the 2009-10 season. ... Deandre Ayton finished with 18 points. Chris Paul had 10 assists.
UP NEXT
Rockets: Host the Pacers on Thursday night.
Suns: Host the Heat on Tuesday night.
Follow David Brandt at www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
