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He hit his first five shots against his former team.

The Phoenix Suns were ready.

They led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Houston Rockets dominated the final three quarters in their 117-98 victory Friday before a sellout crowd at 18,055 at Toyota Center.

The Suns (13-10) were without Devin Booker (right groin strain), Jalen Green (right hamstring strain) and two-way player Isaiah Livers (right hip strain).

Brooks scored 14 of his 23 points in the first quarter after he was honored by the Rockets with a tribute video during the introduction of the starting lineups.

Amen Thompson paced the Rockets (15-5) with 31 points, and Kevin Durant scored 28 points against his former team, with 17 coming in the second quarter as Houston took a 68-58 halftime lead. The Rockets were down All-Star center Alperen Sengun, who sat out due to illness.

The Rockets went on a 24-9 run in the first half and 21-9 surge in the second half. The Suns trailed by as many as 30 points Friday in falling to 0-2 versus Houston.

Durant became the eighth player in NBA history to score 31,000 career points. He didn’t play in the first matchup in Phoenix last month due to personal reasons. The Suns lost, 114-92, in that game.

Phoenix continues its road trip on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here are several takeaways from Friday night's game.

Booker injury update

Suns coach Jordan Ott said before the game that Booker could be available for the Wednesday NBA Cup quarterfinal game at defending NBA champion Oklahoma City.

"If his body is feeling good and he's in a good place, he'll absolutely be available," said Ott about the OKC rematch. Phoenix lost, 123-119, in NBA Cup group play last month in Oklahoma City.

On Dec. 3, the Suns said Booker’s groin injury would be re-evaluated in one week, which would make it the day of that Dec. 10 game, Ott noted.

“We'll continue to assess him day-by-day, but he's been through this before,� Ott said. “So he knows exactly where he's at and his body and he's made good progress in a short amount of time.�

Optimism can be a wonderful thing, but the Suns might take a little more precaution with this one, given Booker’s history with groin injuries.

Granted, it was a left groin strain that sidelined him for 21 games in the 2022-23 season, but that happened when Booker thought he was ready to go after sitting three games with groin soreness.

He wants to play. The Suns want him to play. Should he play is the question.

Rockets too big for Suns

Brooks challenged the Suns to play with more physicality after allowing 64 paint points in Friday’s loss.

The Suns tried, but they lack size at the four position, so battling the Rockets inside was a chore.

Royce O’Neale is their starting four. He only grabbed four rebounds. Ryan Dunn is his backup. He matched O’Neale with four.

So who led Phoenix in rebounding?

Jordan Goodwin, a generous 6-3 guard, grabbed five with two on the offensive boards.

He has a knack for creating extra possessions, but Goodwin shouldn’t be the leading rebounder in a game. Mark Williams had just three boards, as did backup big Oso Ighodaro.

The Suns overwhelmingly won the possession game, hoisting 100 shots to Houston’s 78, but Phoenix only shot 39% from the field while Houston ended the night at 59.2%, going 10-of-18 from deep.

Had Sengun played, the Rockets would’ve been even bigger.

Just a bad matchup for Phoenix.

Thompson likes to get downhill. He’s the most athletically gifted player on the team and a rising star in the league.

Durant can shoot over the top even when he’s falling to the floor for a potential and-1 opportunity.

By the third quarter, as Durant continued to score and make plays, he started looking at the Suns' bench after every bucket.

Not staring, but just a quick glance over and a head shake.

The Suns and Durant are both in better places than a season ago, but Durant reminded Phoenix what makes him still so good at age 37.

Winning record on New Year's Day?

The Suns should have a winning record when Jan. 1 rolls around.

They may drop these next two at Minnesota and Oklahoma City and be just a game above .500. A loss to the Thunder would set up a matchup against the San Antonio Spurs-Los Angeles Lakers loser in the second NBA Cup quarterfinal game.

The Lakers and Spurs would both want some payback. San Antonio is 0-2 against Phoenix and Los Angeles just got handled by the Suns, 125-108, Dec. 1, at home.

Even if they’d come up short to the Spurs in San Antonio or the Lakers in Phoenix to lose a fourth straight game, the Suns should resume winning ways at New Orleans.

They play the Pelicans twice after Christmas. New Orleans has the NBA’s worst record at 3-20. Just a complete and utter disaster Joe Dumars is being called upon to fix. Good luck to the two-time champion.

Then, Phoenix continues the four-game road trip against the Washington Wizards, who reside at the bottom of the East at 3-18.

The Suns conclude December with a New Year’s Eve battle at Cleveland in what will be Ott’s return. He was a Cavaliers assistant last season.

The Suns should be inspired to get him a win there. Booker should be back by then, too.

Phoenix has reached a point where it should beat the bad teams, compete against the best ones and steal one here and there, and win more than lose against the evenly matched opponents.

Anything better than that, they’re a playoff team.

Anything worse, the Suns are coming up just short of postseason play.