PHOENIX -- It might not have been pretty, but the Phoenix Suns improved to 5-6 and have now won four of their last five games following their 101-96 victory over the Charlotte Hornets (4-8) Thursday night.

The Suns blew an early 17-point lead but were able to hang on down the stretch and ultimately came out on top against a Hornets team that has the worst offense in the league and was missing a few key players.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 30 points, seven assists and three steals, while Coby White paced Charlotte with 21 points and Grayson Allen added 14 points and six assists in his return to Phoenix.

Here are three takeaways from the Suns' victory over the Hornets:

Suns Still Searching for Answers with Rotation

The Suns cannot seem to find any rhythm when Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Miles Bridges share the floor together.

Phoenix was a minus-18 when these four played together in the win and began to squander its big lead almost immediately when they returned to the game in the second quarter.

On the other hand, the Suns' bench has been playing extremely well, which led to Phoenix going with a combination of Collin Gillespie (13 points, +12), Luke Kennard (eight points, +16) and Jordan Goodwin (6 points, +18) down the stretch in favor of Green (12 points, -16) and Bridges (11 points, 6 rebounds, +1), who both watched from the bench.

"It's like you're in the heat of battle, and I thought that group not only in the second half, first half had it going, the (Goodwin), Luke, Collin mix," Suns coach Jordan Ott said of the late-game decision.

"We knew Book and Dillon were coming back, so we had to manage that, and then on top of it we had to try to find a way to rebound against these guys. I think it was a combination of all of it. We'll continue to look at it and try to get the best groups out there at the best time. At the end of the game, you're trying everything you can just to kind of fill some holes. Obviously, we struggled offensively tonight, so it was a little bit more defensive. We'll take a look."

The biggest decision the Suns have to make in terms of their lineup is with Green, who has struggled in his new playmaking role. He now has a team-worst minus-15.3 net rating through the first 11 games.

Devin Booker Remains a Constant As Suns Figure Things Out

Booker knows the Suns are still figuring things out, but he has consistently been Phoenix's top player, averaging 27.4 points, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 39.6% from 3-point range over the last seven games.

"We got the win, but to be transparent, we're still searching. We're still finding," Booker said. "We've had parts of the game where we look really good with certain lineups and certain lineups we come in, and just can't find that flow.

"We get the sample size. Always say it feels better in the win, but we definitely have some things to clean up."

Booker has also come up big during crunch time, and he hit the dagger 3-pointer to put the Suns up six with 22.9 seconds to go.

“Just the work. Just putting in the work. Trying to lead and communicate," Booker said of remaining consistent. "Even though we started off 1-5, we've ran off a few now, but still learning. Coming in with the same mindset tomorrow as if we lost the game. We still have things to clean up. We're building for something bigger than the first 10 games of the season."

The Suns would be in a much worse position if Booker hadn't been at the top of his game as of late.

Devin Booker dagger 3. Puts Suns ahead 97-91 with 22.9 seconds remaining pic.twitter.com/JANyNPsLFx

— Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau) November 13, 2026

Suns’ Defense Continues to Show Improvement

Although the Hornets have the worst offense in the league, the Suns continued to take big strides forward on the defensive side of the ball.

The Suns forced 27 turnovers, converting them into 38 points, and held Charlotte to 41.3% shooting from the field.

Phoenix did get throughly outrebounded, 52-31, but also took 12 more shots than the Hornets, who are one of the top rebounding teams in the league, due to the turnovers discrepancy (27 vs. 8).

"Our heat and disruption - getting back to that. The value and energy that those live-ball turnovers create for our group," Ott said of his team's defense. "Last couple games we didn't do that as well and wanted to get back to it, I know they were down a couple people and were turning it over at a high rate, so that was one of the keys to the game that definitely pushed it to the limits. Especially in the first half, I thought our heat and activity was really good."

The Suns have the sixth-best defensive rating in the NBA over the last five games (109.0) after having a league-worst 124.5 defensive rating through the first six games.

They are also now second in points off turnovers per (22.2) on the year.

Phoenix's defense will face perhaps its toughest test yet Sunday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, who have the league's top offensive rating (121.6).