Suns beat Warriors in season opener as Kevin Durant receives a video tribute in his return to Golden State.

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant made his first return to the Bay Area in front of fans since leaving the franchise in 2019, receiving a tribute video and standing ovation before Tuesday's game, which the Suns won 108-104.

Durant, who has played for the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns since leaving the Warriors, had yet to play in front of Bay Area fans due to injury and COVID-19 restrictions.

The Warriors' pre-game tribute video was met with mostly cheers from the Chase Center crowd.

Phoenix outscored Golden State 28-18 in the fourth quarter to win the season opener. Devin Booker led all scorers with 32 points and 8 assists, Durant had an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Nurkic also had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Stephen Curry led six Warriors in double figures with 27 points, but he missed 10 of 14 3-point attempts. Klay Thompson had 15 points, Chris Paul added 14 to complement a game-high nine assists and Jonathan Kuminga scored 12 points for the Warriors, who were without Draymond Green (ankle).

It was a tight affair up till the end even as Booker found Josh Okogie in the left corner for a 3-pointer that opened a 103-99 lead for the Suns with 1:09 to play.

Curry answered with two free throws, but Booker drew the defense and found Eric Gordon open for another 3-pointer, extending the lead to five points with 44.7 seconds remaining.

Golden State, which lost three of four games to Phoenix last season, rallied once more with 31.4 seconds left on a Curry 3-pointer off an offensive rebound to pull within 106-104.

However, after a timeout, the ball was handed back to Booker, who this time drilled a pass to Jusuf Nurkic for a layup, resulting in the game's final points with 10.3 seconds remaining.

Those were Nos. 6, 7 and 8 assists for Booker, who played without new backcourt partner Bradley Beal, who was out with a back injury.

SportsLigue