Devin Booker Joined James Harden on Elite List Wednesday

All eyes were on Phoenix Suns superstar Devin Booker on Wednesday night.

As the Suns faced the Chicago Bulls in Phoenix, Booker was a man on a mission. His first-quarter performance wasn’t anything over the top. While Booker shot efficiently from the field in his first 12 minutes of action, the Suns' guard produced nine points at the start of Wednesday’s game.

The second quarter is when Booker really started to find his groove. Knocking down six of his eight shots from the field and going 3-4 from the charity stripe, Booker tacked on 16 points in six minutes. Going into halftime, the Suns' star had a game-high of 25 points by halftime.

There was no slowing down Booker in the second half. Once again proving he was the hot hand on the court, Booker checked in for the entire third quarter on Wednesday. Trading shots with Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, Booker was nearly perfect from the field by dropping ten of his 11 shots, five of which came from beyond the arc.

While DeRozan impressed with 18 points off seven shots and six free throws coming out of the half, Booker did it better as he tacked on 26 points to have 51 before the fourth quarter started.

With a stat line of 80 percent shooting from the field with over 50 points through three quarters, Devin Booker joined a short list of players who have accomplished that feat in the last 25 years. The other guy on the list happens to be Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden.

Devin Booker is the 2nd player over the last 25 years with 50 points and 80% shooting through the first 3 quarters of a game, joining James Harden on Nov. 5, 2017 against the Jazz. pic.twitter.com/RYkK1F17B0
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 1, 2022

When Harden accomplished a 50-point, 80 percent from the field stat line through three quarters, he wasn’t with the Sixers just yet. At the time, he was the franchise superstar for the Houston Rockets amid an MVP campaign.

At the time, Harden helped the Rockets defeat the Jazz by 27 points. He finished the outing knocking down 76 percent of his shots, scoring 56 points in 35 minutes. In addition to scoring, Harden also had a double-double by producing 13 assists.

As for Booker, he took the rest of the night off on Wednesday. Since the Suns possessed a 106-81 lead going into the fourth quarter, Booker sat for the rest of the game as Phoenix completed a 132-113 victory over the Bulls.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.