The Phoenix Suns had lost three of their last four games to end 2021 on a whimper after winning more games than any other team in the league in that calendar year. They needed to get back on a winning streak, but were on the road playing a resurgent Charlotte Hornets team that had won three straight and were 19-17 on the season.
None of that mattered. The previously slumping and dramatically short-handed Suns laid a walloping on the Hornets from the opening to the final buzzer.
In their 133-99 win, the Suns led by nearly 30 at halftime and by 40 in the fourth quarter before emptying the benches.