How Booker’s 70 points in Boston can be repeated

Something happened the last time the Suns were in Boston that was really big, but that was widely criticized… What was it…

Oh yeah: Devin Booker scored 70 points.

Phoenix Suns (8-15) v Boston Celtics (19-4)

Saturday 12/2/2017 11:00pm
TD Garden, Boston, MA
Arizona Sports 98.7FM/Fox Sports Arizona

2017-18 – Series tied 0-0
All-Time Series – Celtics lead 68-55
Last Matchup – Celtics won 130-120
Suns’ Last Game – Win over Minnesota Timberwolves 118-110
Celtics’ Last Game – Win over the Philadelphia 76ers 108-97
2017-18 Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 106.9 (12th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 115.8 (30th of 30)
2017-18 Celtics’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 104.0 (19th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 96.8 (1st of 30)

There’s no need to go into too much depth and detail in regards to Booker’s 70 point outburst (except for right here where we broke it down, basically shot-for-shot), but just as a reminder, after having dropped a decent 19 points in the first half, the most unsuspecting start to the most outstanding scoring day in franchise history, the Phoenix Suns found themselves in a familiar position: down 23 points at half.

At least we can give Earl Watson credit for being consistent.

Phoenix Suns

Then in the third quarter Booker surpassed  his first half scoring output with 23 points, and heading into the fourth quarter, now with 42 (already a career-high), anything was possible.

Whether there should be an asterisk next to Booker’s 70 or not will forever be debated (although in his defense, he is far from the only player to ever score 60 points or more and have his team still lose the game), the important point to take from that game is that Devin Booker had arrived. He accomplished something, whether he had been helped out by questionable coaching tactics or not, that Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Steph Curry, LeBron James, and so many other star names in league history had not accomplished, and he did so on a bad  team and at a very young age.

He proved that he was capable of scoring at a great clip, he was capable of taking the offensive load from his team, and he has since been lauded as a scorer of elite quality, all before legally being able to drink the champagne that customarily would be poured to celebrate such a momentous event.

Since that special evening in Boston, Booker has yet to even score 40 points, although he has already broached the 30-point plateau eight times in only 19 games this season alone.

Although that single game placed Booker on a level of fame around the league that he could have only reached with a 70-point outburst, he had already been a well-known scorer. Granted he had not yet then, and he still has not now, been able to tie his scoring directly to winning (not that there is a direct correlation, however he is only 9-19 when scoring over 30 points in his career) league-wide knowledge of his game, and the lack of enough capable and consistent scorers on the roster, allows defenses to focus on Booker through trapping and double-teaming occasionally shutting him out of the action. He has already been held to below 10 points twice this season, and 15 or less a total of six times.

To actually reach the level of most of the other players in league history who have scored at least 60 points in a game, Booker ultimately will need to have additional talent on the roster to spread defense’s more thinly allowing him easier access to open shots through more consistent one-on-one, or zone, defense’s.

Ultimately, if the Suns are able to put prime star talent around him building a big three (or four) of sorts, Booker’s game will be allowed to be extended to the next level.

The argument for how that should happen is at this moment the most hotly debated in all of the Valley of the Suns: should Phoenix continue to tank and build a roster full of diaper dandys, or should they begin to build a roster of veteran players around their current core of youth and allow the vets to begin to carry the load for the young Suns.

Next: Top-10 Highest Scoring Games in Phoenix Suns History

For now, we can re-experience the magic of that 70-point game on YouTube here, and today, witness the return of Booker to the place where it all happened.

Will he score 70 again? Probably not. But soon, with a little roster help and maturity, he’ll be scoring like those guys who scored 70 before him, and the Suns will be winning, more often than not when he drops even 30.