Suns Duo of Kevin Durant/Devin Booker Already Hitting Historic Marks
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns did it.
Though the Los Angeles Clippers never truly made it easy, the Suns were able to advance 4-1 into the second round of the postseason.
Numerous factors and players played a role into Phoenix pulling off the gentlemen's sweep, but the dynamic duo of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant was far and away the difference for the Suns.
Booker and Durant scored at least 25 points in all five games thus far, tying the great Los Angeles Lakers duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal for longest streak by a pair of teammates to begin the postseason:
“I just think the ability to put the ball in the hole in certain environments. Once you get to Game 3, 4, 5 in any series, your play calls are not going to be as effective and so when you can throw the ball to two guys and sometimes three guys that can just go get a bucket, that’s playoff basketball," Suns coach Monty Williams said of the duo.
"I think what we have to do in continuing to get better at is spacing around those guys and when they trap Devin or trap Kevin, having a designate flash guy to make plays. I thought JO (Josh Okogie) did a decent job of that, but those two guys score in bunches and they score on every level and I still think we can do a better job of finding Kevin, especially in transition. There were a few times I thought we could have found him for a transition three, so we probably left some on the table with him.”
Durant averaged a cool 28.4 points on 51.8% shooting with 7.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists during the LA series. Booker led all playoff scorers with 37.2 points and 2.6 steals per night.
As the Suns prepare to battle the Denver Nuggets, they know a tall task awaits to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Durant opened up on what it was like to play with Booker following the series-clinching win in Game 5.
“You are playing with special players; they bring the best out of you. Playing with Steph (Stephen Curry), you watch him every day, you watch his work ethic, you admire his attention to detail and take some stuff from that. See somebody like Book (Devin Booker) and see his journey, see his work ethic, his love for the game, you try to pull some stuff from that too," Durant said.
"It is always iron sharpening iron. Getting an opportunity to play with some of the best players of all-time. Something that will only make my game better and only make my story better to be honest. Sky's the limit; we are enjoying this moment. Don’t want to take it for granted.”
