Miami @ Phoenix preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 25, 2019 ) Phoenix 124, Miami 121

Phoenix star guard Devin Booker strives for another high-scoring effort when the rising Suns host the Miami Heat on Thursday. Booker scored 40 points on 15-of-19 shooting in a 114-109 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, giving Phoenix a third straight win as part of a 5-2 start.

Booker is averaging 26.1 points and tallied 30 or more on three occasions while fueling the Suns to their best seven-game start since also going 5-2 in 2013-14. "I've said it for a while: He's a complete basketball player," Phoenix coach Monty Williams told reporters of Booker. "He's competitive, not afraid of the moment. He makes big plays." While the Suns are playing the second contest of a six-game homestand, Miami is playing the middle contest of a three-game road trip and looking to bounce back from Tuesday's 109-89 beating administered by the Denver Nuggets. "They were the aggressors," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters of the Nuggets. "We weren't able to impose our will for any long stretches of the game defensively and you could see that early on with allowing 30 points in the paint. They played well and it wasn't really a competitive game in the second half."

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Miami), FS Arizona

ABOUT THE HEAT (5-2): Guard Kendrick Nunn started on a tear by setting a points' record (112) for an undrafted free agent's first five games but has suddenly hit a rough patch. Nunn is just 6-of-24 shooting over the past two games while putting up his lowest two outputs - five points against the Houston Rockets on Sunday and 11 against Denver on 4-of-14 shooting. "It's part of the league," forward Jimmy Butler told reporters of Nunn. "You can't make shots every single night, but you can do other things to help your team win."

ABOUT THE SUNS (5-2): Big man Aron Baynes has been superb during Phoenix's strong start and had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Philadelphia. The 32-year-old is averaging 19.7 points over the last three games and scored in double digits in six straight outings while averaging 15 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists overall. "It is fun for everyone here involved," Baynes told reporters. "One of the good feelings we have right now is we understand that when we're playing within the system and the ball is moving, everyone's getting a shot, taking the best shot for the team."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Heat won 16 of the past 18 meetings.

2. Butler is shooting 35.4 percent from the field in four games after going 3-of-12 against Denver.

3. Booker, who turned 23 on Oct. 30, became the eighth-youngest player in NBA history to reach 6,000 career points. He has 6,003.

PREDICTION: Suns 103, Heat 98