How Devin Booker Entered Michael Jordan Territory
Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker is special.
People growing up around the Michigan native saw that. Supporters of the Kentucky Wildcats saw that in college before the NBA eventually witnessed it in person.
Booker battled through years of poor basketball here in Phoenix before the Suns finally got competitive. He's ascended to superstar status - and with Kevin Durant by his side - hopes to capture his first ring soon.
That last part will have to be seen to come to fruition, though Booker's undoubtedly been on an absolute tear as of late, seeing his name mentioned with one of the greatest athletes of all time in Michael Jordan.
Thus far in the postseason, Booker has scored 295 total points - which is the most through the first eight games of the postseason since Michael Jordan (325 points in 1990).
Game 3's performance (47 points, six rebounds, nine assists, three steals and one block) was one for the record books. Booker's crazy efficiency marked the fourth 40-point game on 60% or higher field goal percentage in just his third postseason.
He sits behind LeBron James (seven) and Jordan (8).
According to ESPN Stats and Info, Booker now has just as many 45-point postseason games (four) as the entire Suns franchise before him.
After the masterful Game 3 win, Durant
“Yes, like I don’t understand why this is such a surprise to everybody. He has been doing this since day one, they might not have been playoff wins but he showed his skills since his rookie year," said Durant.
"A lot of people overlook that and didn’t see him go for 45 and think it is something new. Nah, he has always been on this type of time. We got to continue to keep feeding the hot hand, he is making good plays. Three turnovers, nine assists – oh I didn’t have a turnover tonight, so that is good we keeping the ball in our hands. He is one of the guys that just ignites us from the first possession. Who knows what they will do to guard him in the next game, but we want him to stay aggressive.”
Coach Monty Williams added to that with, "I don’t get tired of talking about a guy when he’s playing as well as Book is. I’ll talk about it every night, I hope, because that means we are playing well. I do feel better about the rotation tonight because I was able to get him a break at the start of the second.
"Typically, I’d run him a bit too long and so he got the quarter break and then the automatic timeout break and then we can get him back into the game. This is that time of the year, (Nikola) Jokic played 41 (minutes), Book played 41 (minutes). The best players are playing high minutes, so that’s what it requires this time of the year.”
It's clear that the Suns will need Booker to continue his hot scoring streak, but it's also apparent Booker is up to task.
