Led by Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, the Western Conference's eighth-place Suns have played well in January, winning seven of their last nine, and are 8-4 overall this month. The Clippers are sixth in the West standings, led by veteran stars James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, plus their top scorer this season Norman Powell.

The Phoenix Suns have had to bench a starter from earlier in the season, and he's had a strong reaction to the change.

Devin Booker scored a game-high 26 points, Kevin Durant dropped 24 and Grayson Allen contributed 18 off the bench to lead the Suns to a third straight victory. Tyus Jones scored 17 as he and Booker each hit five 3s.

The Phoenix Suns (22-21) begin their three-game homestand against the lowly Washington Wizards (6-37) on Saturday.

Jones produced 17 points (6-10 FG, 5-8 3Pt), five rebounds and four assists across 28 minutes during Monday's 111-109 win over the Clippers.

The Phoenix Suns (22-21) begin their three-game homestand against the lowly Washington Wizards (6-37) on Saturday.

The Suns have produced a plus-8 point differential, and are outscoring opponents 2.6 points per 100 possessions. Those numbers are since Beal and Jusuf Nurkic were removed from the starting lineup entering their 109-99 win at Philadelphia on Jan. 6.

Phoenix is back to a .500 record after a devastating loss to Cleveland at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Phoenix Suns (21-20) play their fourth of a five-game road trip at the Cleveland Cavaliers (35-6) on Monday.

Though the strength of schedule over this span hasn’t necessarily been impressive, Phoenix has been better recently, winning nine of its last 13 games. So, as the team continues its pursuit of Jimmy Butler, the Suns (24-22) are moving their way up the standings.

Since Mat Ishbia took on ownership of the Phoenix Suns, he's been apt to spend. But could they finally make money-saving trades at the deadline.