![]() ![]() Almost from the moment he turned pro, he has asked his older teammates for business advice. Starting with virtually zero financial knowledge, Booker knew that he would have to work just as hard off the court. Phoenix captured its first conference title in 28 years in 2021 and is off to a 27-8 start this season, after an 18-game winning streak and an undefeated November. That, along with the Suns’ 2020 trade for Chris Paul, has helped produce the kind of team success that eluded him early in his career. ![]() ![]() What truly impresses NBA insiders, though, is the 6-foot-5 Booker’s evolution as a playmaker, able to create shots for both himself and his teammates. He is, from this moment forward, a role player.Devin Booker, a two-time NBA All-Star, is starting to roll up his sleeves as a co-owner of coconut-water sports drink COCO5. Paul has to be taking note of that from the sideline. When two guys are carrying this heavy a scoring load, the less you have to create against set defenses the better. It's the tightly contested, fighting-for-every-inch half-court possessions that take your legs. You might think that playing at a faster pace would wear Booker and KD down, but it's actually probably the opposite. These two guys don't need anyone setting them up, and they definitely don't need anyone slowing them down. If Paul does return, he cannot take control of the offense. 2s6Cd5gPhb- Kevin O'Connor May 6, 2023įrom this point forward, everything the Suns do, from lineup decisions to Chris Paul's role when and if he comes back, needs to be in service of supporting Booker and Durant. Warren is a much better threat as an outlet for Devin Booker or Kevin Durant when they face pressure, like Booker did on these plays. Incredible it took until Game 3 for the Suns to give him minutes. TJ Warren with big buckets down the stretch. Indirectly, Monty Williams making this lineup adjustment to roll with these previously forgotten shooters off his bench instead of Ish Wainright, Torrey Craig and Bismack Biyombo, while reducing the minutes of the defensive-minded but shooting-challenged Josh Okogie, has given Durant and Booker both the spacing and double-team-punishing outlets they need to do what they're doing. Which is to say, directly, the 32 points that Shamet (19), Ross (8) and Warren (5) contributed were lifesaving for a Phoenix team that got just 17 total points from its other three starters. The margins could be the main difference in a series being increasingly dominated by the stars.Īfter all, Nikola Jokic (53) and Jamal Murray (28) combined for 81 points on Sunday: plus-nine on the star ledger. It might seem strange to lead a story with the names of three Phoenix bench guys on a night when Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined to score 72 points, two nights after they laid down 86 in Game 3, but there is, presumably, only so much weight this sizzling Suns duo can carry. Warren and Terrence Ross to the bench for the entirety of Game 2 and for all but 19 combined minutes through the first two games of this second-round series against Denver, Suns coach Monty Williams dusted off his trio of bench shooters for 130 total minutes over Games 3 and 4, both Phoenix victories to tie the series 2-2. ![]()
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