A week on from his record-breaking 70 point display against the Boston Celtics, it is fair to say that Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker is the real deal.
Booker’s performance in Boston put him in exclusive company, joining Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson and David Robinson as the only players to score 70 points or more in a single game in NBA history.
The records didn’t stop there however. In doing so, Booker became the the youngest out of the group to score 70 points in a game, and also broke a franchise record, overtaking Tom Chambers as the highest Suns’ scorer in an individual game. Chambers scored 60 against the Seattle Supersonics exactly 27 years prior to Bookers’ career night.
Booker, a second year shooting guard out of Kentucky is enjoying a season where he is averaging 21.6 points and shooting above 35 per cent from beyond the arc across 72 games.
Not bad for a 20 year old.
With the Suns out of playoff contention, the team has embraced a ‘youth culture’ by giving extending minutes to Booker and rookies Tyler Ulis, Derrick Jones Jr and Marquese Chriss, while shutting down their more experienced veterans for the season (Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight and Tyson Chandler.)
In fact, Phoenix’s starting line-up on 23rd March for their game against the Brooklyn Nets was the youngest line-up ever for an NBA team, with the average age of their starters being 21 years and 14 days.
It is safe to say Booker has thrived in this environment.
Since Bledsoe, Knight and Chandler have all been shut down, Booker is averaging 27.7 points and 4.3 assists per game, a vast improvement on his season statistics.
Booker’s balance of scoring and increased playmaking abilities has been a rare shining point in what has been a pretty awful season for the Suns.
Playoffs were always going to be a challenge in what is a very tight Western Conference, but a 22-54 record and sitting 14th in the West is a disappointing return for Coach Earl Watson with ten games to play in his first full season in charge.
But with a exciting continent of youngsters, headlined by Booker, the Suns can hope they are only a few pieces away from being a contender in the West for years to come.
At just 20 years old, the future looks bright for Booker. He is fast becoming the face of this franchise, and with a lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft on its way to the Suns, we might well be seeing the start of something rather special brewing in Phoenix.
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Nikola Jokic has scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead defending NBA champions Denver past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers…
There will undoubtedly be upset results here and there in the NBA playoffs but there’s an overwhelming sense of fait accompli that Boston will…
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
The only realistic threat to Boston’s chances of strolling through the Eastern Conference is a team that could still end up in the play-in…
Australian guards Dante Exum and Josh Giddey have both come up big for their NBA clubs in crucial wins in the lead-in to the…
Minnesota Timberwolves fans have endured plenty of pain in their 35 years of being a laughing stock in the NBA. In all that time,…
