Inside The Suns

Devin Booker Reveals Frustrations With Suns

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker is frustrated with the team's early woes in the postseason.
Apr 23, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) walks back to the
Apr 23, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) walks back to the | Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

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PHOENIX -- Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker is the ultimate competitor.

So when somebody like Booker - whose Suns trail 2-0 in the first-round of their playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves - are thoroughly handled throughout the first 96 minutes of postseason basketball, it's natural for frustrations to emerge.

“My frustration is just within the team,” Booker said after the game. “We need to execute. We play well when we're playing well. We need to stick together once things turn bad. We’ve done that throughout the season – something has to be corrected.”

Adversity has been a buzz word of sorts through the Valley, as the Suns haven't responded well throughout much of the regular season when momentum swings the other way - and that's continued in their two playoff games in Minnesota.

"We gotta handle their pressure better. I thought we found some things in the first half that worked really well in terms of our movement and passing-cut offense. We didn’t sustain it when they went on a run, we didn’t stay locked into that plan, had too many lost possessions because of it," Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said after the loss.

"We’ve had issues with that throughout the course of this year of taking care of the basketball, it reared its head tonight. This team is an elite defensive team, the best defensive team in the league that we’re playing against, so you have to execute.”

Now, Phoenix is staring an 0-2 deficit in the face. A loss on Friday would tilt the series heavily in Minnesota's favor.

"We just gotta re-group. We got two days to think about it, two days to sit with it. You know, we’ve showed that in spots this season, and it’s something that we need to correct and correct urgently," said Booker.

We'll see exactly how urgent the Suns are when they're back in front of their home crowd, something Booker and Kevin Durant spoke on - you can read more about that here.


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Donnie Druin
DONNIE DRUIN

Donnie Druin is the Publisher for Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Suns On SI. Donnie moved to Arizona in 2012 and has been with the company since 2018. In college he won "Best Sports Column" in the state of Arizona for his section and has previously provided coverage for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona State Sun Devils. Follow Donnie on Twitter @DonnieDruin for more news, updates, analysis and more!