Suns Devin Booker passes Barkley and Chamberlain in win vs Denver

Hitting 20 shots in a playoff game is a huge accomplishment in and of itself; however, the way D-Book did so was nothing short of magical.

Curry hit the same figure a week ago in the closeout win over Sacramento, but if you look at his line, Steph took 38 shots to get to his 20 makes, which was 13 more than Booker. This is where  80% shooting from the floor comes in.

For players who have taken at least 20 shots in an NBA playoff game, D-Book now sits third behind only Elton Brand, who went 18 of 22 for the Clippers against the Suns back in the 2006 playoffs, and Mike Mitchell, who hit 17 of 21 shots for the Spurs against Denver in 1985. Of course, Booker took more shots than both Mitchell and Brand and scored more points.

D-Book tops for volume efficiency

If we go back to that list of 22 games with players making at least 20 shots in the playoffs – Jordan holds the record with 24 makes – and look at the shooting percentages, we see just how great D-Book’s performance was.

Previously, Charles Barkley held the record for the highest shooting percentage in a playoff game with at least 20 field goals at 74.2% in his 56-point night against Golden State. Now Booker holds that record with his 80% shooting. So good was his performance; it was even better than Wilt Chamberlain’s most efficient volume playoff game.

Chamberlain hit at least 20 field goals five times in the playoffs, including a high of 24 – tying Jordan – back in 1960. However, his most efficient night was when he went 20 of 27 against the Knicks in 1970. Of course, if you add that Wilt went 5 of 14 from the line that night, things seem slightly different. If only Booker could go to the line 14 times, or four, that would be a different story. For now, Suns fans should enjoy the win and the wonderful, historical performance of our superstar that took us there.