After the All-Star break, the Phoenix Suns have now dropped back-to-back games. 

The Suns fell to 33-24 on the season on Friday after being defeated 114-100 by the Houston Rockets.

On the second night of a back-to-back, Phoenix glaringly missed their firepower without injured players Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic. 

Phoenix started the first quarter with a 22-9 lead and looked to be well on their way to a landslide victory. However, Houston closed the gap to 28-20 at the start of the second quarter. Halfway through the quarter, Thaddeus Young made his Suns debut, grabbing two points and four rebounds. 

The Rockets led by as many as 16 points at one point in the first half, but they ultimately stabilised and ended up leading 57-52 at the break. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined for 8-24 field goals, while the Suns converted just 3 of their 17 field goal attempts. Houston concluded the second quarter with an 11-1 run. 

Early in the third quarter, the Rockets increased their lead to double digits. They were able to hold onto that lead for the full twelve minutes, and going into the fourth quarter, they were ahead 89-76. At the end of the third quarter, Fred VanVleet had five assists and 23 points. 

In the closing minutes of the game, the two sides battled it out, with the Suns managing to erase the earlier deficit and take a slim lead. In the end, Houston held on to win in the closing seconds. 

With 28 points, Durant led Phoenix, while the Suns’ other leading scorers were Booker (25), Bol Bol (25), and Bol Bol (25 off the bench). 

VanVleet scored 23 points to lead the Rockets. 

On Sunday, Phoenix will return home to play the Los Angeles Lakers.