Suns Devin Booker passes Barkley and Chamberlain in win vs Denver
By Aaron Coe
Devin Booker joined some big names and passed others with his historically efficient performance in the Phoenix Suns’ 121-114 Game 3 win over the Denver Nuggets.
No matter who you are a fan of, if you were watching Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns, you know you saw an incredible performance from Booker. Matching his career playoff high of 47 points, Booker was historically efficient, etching his name into the lore of the NBA and, more importantly, putting Phoenix back in the playoff series.
An incredible night the Suns season needed from D-Book
We have heard the line, teams that have gone into a 0-3 deficit have never returned to win an NBA playoff series. That is right, never, which meant, the pressure was squarely on Phoenix not to lose, and D-Booker knew this and carried the team from the start. Although Cameron Payne was the first Suns player to score, with an encouraging early layup, Booker was the second, fourth, and fifth player to score.
With bad starts killing the Suns this season and Phoenix unable to afford one, Booker was huge in the first quarter, scoring 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting. With two rebounds, two assists, and two steals, it was a monster start for Booker, but if you asked him, he’d likely say the only two that mattered were the two points Phoenix was trailing by after 12 minutes.
The only thing to slow Booker down as he tied his career playoff high was the referees, with Booker in foul trouble all evening. The same was true for Deandre Ayton; the only difference is Booker did not let the bad officiating – on both ends – impact his play, whereas Ayton seemingly quit. Ultimately, with help from Kevin Durant, as the duo scored more than 70 points, Booker’s brilliant night carried the Suns to grab the much-needed victory.