PHOENIX — In Friday night’s final minutes, Devin Booker spotted the help defender coming, so the Phoenix Suns guard jumped off his left foot and fired a pass to teammate Kevin Durant, who was flashing to the opposite wing.

Booker lost balance in the air, if such a thing is possible, falling back, his left leg swinging out in front of him. His right foot touched the floor first and Booker threw back his arms, bracing for impact. He ended up on his back, legs spread, head slightly raised, eyes on Durant across the court, a familiar pose for Suns fans.

“That’s a good angle,” Booker said. “I haven’t watched somebody else shoot from that angle before. It was nice.”

At the end of the 2020 bubble season, Booker hit an off-balance, fading shot at the buzzer to beat the Clippers. He watched it swish from the same pose demonstrated in Friday’s 123-112 win over Cleveland, flat on his back, legs spread, head raised, nothing but net.

The Suns didn’t make the playoffs that year, but they found something late, winning their final eight, a strong dose of optimism to end the season. Nearly five years later, Phoenix is trying to find a similar groove that can help revive their postseason hopes, as well as civic optimism. Friday night’s win over the Cavaliers (56-14) was an important step. For the first time, Phoenix buried a title contender.

Durant’s 3-pointer off Booker’s feed was the night’s exclamation point, giving the Suns (34-37) their third win in a row and keeping them in 10th place in the West, reserved for the conference’s final Play-In Tournament team. Nothing is guaranteed. The Suns still face the league’s toughest remaining schedule, but something has changed. Phoenix is playing with a different energy and confidence. Urgency, at last.

Against the top team in the East, the Suns opened with a starting five that consisted of Booker, Durant, second-year point guard Collin Gillespie, and rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro. Rotation regulars Bradley Beal (left hamstring), Mason Plumlee (left quad) and Grayson Allen (left foot) were out. Starting big man Nick Richards experienced right calf tightness before the game and was scratched.

And yet, the Suns never trailed Cleveland beyond the first quarter and led by as many as 21. They harassed star guard Donovan Mitchell, holding him to seven points on 2-of-18 shooting. They held Darius Garland (18 points) in check. They answered every surge, sending the Cavs to their fourth consecutive loss.

MY GOODNESS RYAN 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/1VOazGIpeN

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 22, 2025

The energy surge is noticeable. So is the power source. The Big Three has been replaced by The Active Three. Ighodaro (six points, a career-high 13 rebounds in 44 minutes) and Dunn (10 and nine in 26) are agitators. Cody Martin, acquired at the trade deadline, brings a similar edge off the bench. Early in the fourth quarter, the 6-foot-6 forward blocked a Mitchell transition jump shot from behind. The ball deflected into the hands of Cleveland’s Evan Mobley near the rim. Martin hustled and tried to block Mobley’s shot as well, but he arrived a second late. He grabbed the ball as it dropped through the net and slammed it in disgust.

The Suns have lacked that kind of defensive willingness for most of the season. (Martin was in Charlotte before the trade, Dunn and Ighodaro were in and out of coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation.) Teams would enter PHX Arena knowing they could get pretty much whatever they wanted. At the rim, beyond the arc or on the break, sometimes all three. That’s no longer happening as frequently. The Suns still have poor defensive stretches, they’re just not fatal. Over the past five games, with the rookies playing bigger roles, Phoenix’s 111.2 defensive rating ranks 10th in the league.

Standing at his locker, Booker was asked about a word Budenholzer has used when discussing the reversal — deflections.

Have those numbers over the last three games been up?

“Yep,” Booker said.

Substantially?

“Yeah.”

What would you attribute that to?

“Those three guys that are in the lineup,” Booker said. “But I keep saying, just being connected. You’re moving as one. We’re covering (for) each other on defensive breakdowns and everybody’s making the extra effort to rotate for each other, and at the same time, making sure we secure the ball and rebound.”

The 7-foot Ighodaro, who took four DNPs earlier this month, has been especially effective. On Monday, he was plus-39 in a 40-point win over rebuilding Toronto. Against Cleveland, he was a team-high plus-15.

“He is in the right position, he’s talking, he’s battling, he’s going to contest shots at the rim,” said Durant, who had 42 points, six rebounds and eight assists. “He’s just pretty much trying to just play his hardest, man. And you can live with mistakes when guys play extremely hard. He wants the best for the team. You can feel that.”

Just as it unfolded during the “bubble” season, this late push might not be enough. The Suns have put themselves in a bad position. And they have a difficult road, which continues Monday at home against Milwaukee. Dallas, a game behind Phoenix because of a tie-breaker with the Suns, may get Anthony Davis back soon. Portland, two games back, has won four in a row.

But for the first time in a while, the Suns are playing with purpose. They’re interesting again.

“Every game is going to be a battle at this point,” Booker said. “We see the remaining schedule. We know what we’re up against. We’re going to have to sustain what we’re doing now. There’s going to be rough parts. We’re still going to have to stick together.”

(Top photo of Kevin Durant celebrating during Friday’s win: Chris Coduto / Getty Images)