After naysayers took to Reddit with doom and gloom posts that Devin Booker had lost a step, the Phoenix Suns leader popped off for 43 points (a franchise record in a home opener) to will his team to its first win of the season. And while Book’s 17-of-25 shooting performance, accompanied by seven rebounds and seven assists, is an encouraging sign that he is still a force, it’s difficult to pull many more positives out of a win against a heavily depleted Golden State Warriors squad.
Despite being without seven (yes, seven) of their best players—Steph Curry (rest), Draymond Green (back), Jimmy Butler (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (autoimmune condition), Brandin Podziemski (back), Al Horford (back) and Moses Moody (knee)—the Warriors led after the first quarter and were down by just three points at halftime.
After starting the game an ugly 6-of-22 shooting from 3-point range, the Suns turned it on in the second half to finish 14-of-37 (38 percent) from beyond the arc in a nine-point win. It remains worrying that it took a 43-point outburst from Booker to beat such a heavily hampered Warriors team.
Devin Booker’s supporting cast is going to need to step up
Outside of Booker, nobody else on the team scored more than 16 points in the win. That point total was courtesy of new addition Miles Bridges, who added seven rebounds and three assists in a decent bounce-back game after an underwhelming Suns debut. Dillon Brooks added 15 points, and while Jalen Green finished with 12 on 50 percent shooting, he had three turnovers against just one assist.
It was the Suns' bench that showed up in the second half, with Collin Gillespie and Luke Kennard each scoring 11 points with five made 3-pointers combined. If not for the bench unit, which Bridges praised heading into the season, Phoenix would be facing an indefensible 0-2 start.
Thankfully, Booker was up to the task, but the soon-to-be 30-year-old can’t carry this team by himself.
That wasn’t even true in 2021, when Phoenix reached the NBA Finals. Booker had a supporting cast anchored by future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul. Having a true point guard beside Booker in the backcourt has always been the proven blueprint for success in The Valley, but for whatever reason, the Suns have abandoned that roster construction in recent years.
Suns need an identity outside of Booker
Being flanked by Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal ended disastrously, and now, with Green, Brooks, and Bridges, the Suns are working to figure out yet another new identity. Without any team chemistry built from playing together, that quad of Suns is going to have to figure it out fast. How are Booker, Green, Brooks, and Bridges going to navigate shot volumes and touches?
Booker taking the most field goals undoubtedly makes the most sense. It's actually something that should have occurred more often a season ago. Booker himself has said he needs to be more "selfish" as a scorer this season.
It worked to pick up a win in Game 2 of an 82-game grind, but his supporting cast early on is not instilling much confidence that this team can repeat the 45-win success from a season ago.
Add us as a preferred source on Google