LOS ANGELES – Devin Booker admires and respects Klay Thompson but also knows his own worth as the Phoenix Suns star came up tops in a heated battle on Tuesday to overpower the visiting Golden State Warriors 134-105.

Booker scored 34 points – his third straight game with 30-plus points – while Thompson, who managed only two points on one-of-eight shooting for the Warriors with two assists, was then ejected for the first time in his career.

Booker, 25, was also at the centre of a third-quarter skirmish with Thompson that led to the Warriors’ future Hall-of-Famer being tossed for the first time in 796 regular-season and post-season games.

The pair bumped chests and exchanged words, leading to double technicals for both before Thompson’s temper boiled over during an ensuing time-out. He was thrown out after yelling at the officials, despite being restrained by teammate Stephen Curry and assistant coach Chris DeMarco.

When asked later what Thompson had said to him, Booker said: “They have four (championship) rings. Repeated over and over. And they do...

“He was having a tough night. Everything plays into his frustration. I’ve been there before.

“I’ve always admired his game, how he plays on both sides of the ball and obviously the rings speak for themselves. Like I said, I’m going to bring it every time.”

That flashpoint proved decisive, with the Suns exploiting the Warriors’ lack of composure to turn an 83-77 advantage into a 15-point lead at 92-77.

The Suns would eventually outscore the Warriors 33-20 in the third quarter to take a 105-86 lead into the final period.

Golden State rallied to cut the deficit to 12 points midway through the fourth quarter, but Phoenix pulled away once again to seal a deserved victory.

Booker, who has averaged 32.5 points in four games to start the campaign, said Phoenix were determined to impress against the reigning NBA champions.

“Those are the defending champs over there,” he said.

“They have a culture, an environment, they’re holding the crown. Every time we match up against them, we want to play hard and play competitive.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr played down the Booker-Thompson clash.

“They’re both great competitors, both great players,” Kerr said. “This is the NBA – it’s the highest competition in the world. Stuff like that happens.”

Thompson, a five-time All-Star shooting guard, has had a sluggish start to the campaign, averaging 11 points on 35.6 per cent shooting from the field. He has made just eight-of-28 three-point attempts (28.6 per cent).

Kerr added: “One thing I will remind Klay on, he’s had plenty of slow starts in his career. I remember several years ago where he really struggled from the three-point line in his first four or five games.

“Klay cares so much about the game, his own impact on our team. He wants it so badly and he’s trying to force everything right now. He’s trying too hard. I’ll remind him of that.”

Booker was given scoring support by Mikal Bridges (17 points) while Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul added 16 points each.

Curry, who had 33 or more points in each of his first three games, led the Warriors scoring with 21 points with Jordan Poole adding 17.

Curry said: “We’ve got to remember that (as) defending champs, there’s a different glow when you walk in. Teams are trying to come at you, especially on the road, get their crowd into it.

“Their emotions are running high and they fed off of it... they had a bit of an edge after that moment that they capitalised on.” AFP