No one trusted the Phoenix Suns to be as good as they were last season.
As it usually happens in the NBA, small-market teams don’t get the recognition they deserve, so everybody thought it was just they were just another misleading 1st seed.
The Suns proved their doubters wrong by knocking down the Lakers in the first round, sweeping the Nuggets in the second, and getting past the Clippers in the Conference Finals.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t finish the job against the Bucks in the NBA Finals.
Booker Says The Suns Are In The Zone
Even so, Monty Williams’ team is once again on a roll, sitting at a 27-7 record and boasting the third-best net rating in the league.
The team is having fun and playing at an elite level, but they’re still taking it one game at the time:
"We’re going through a funny stretch right now. We’re figuring things out," Suns guard Devin Booker said, as quoted by Gwinnett Prep Sports. "Just moving on to next game mentality. Same as (Wednesday). You know, we got the win, but now we’re focused on Boston."
Devin Booker Makes NBA History In Win Over OKC
Booker continues to blossom as one of the league’s finest players.
Thanks to his 38-point explosion against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Kentucky product became the seventh-youngest player in NBA history to top the 10,000-point plateau, trailing LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
To make it even more impressive, he joins an exclusive club alongside Kevin Durant and LeBron James as the only players to score 10,000+ points and make 00+ three-pointers before turning 26.
All-Star Snub Again?
But even despite Booker’s great performances, he’s not likely to be an All-Star starter this season, either.
As great as he’s been, he’s still not as popular as other Western Conference guards, and he’s not likely to get enough fan votes to be a starter.
Recently, former NBA player turned analyst Kendrick Perkins predicted his starters for the West, featuring Stephen Curry, Ja Morant, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, and Rudy Gobert.
And while that may not be the final list, it’ll take a huge stretch of games from Booker to knock down his peers in All-Star voting.
The Celtics Bring Him Good Memories
Then again, who knows? We’re talking about one of the best young scorers in the league and the Suns are finally starting to get some national attention after their success last season.
Also, facing the Celtics will give Booker plenty of good memories, as he established his career-high of 70 points to become the youngest player to top that mark.
That’s the third-highest scoring game in NBA history just behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 and Kobe Bryant’s 81, so maybe facing them again will create the perfect storm for him to make his case for All-Star starter.
]]>The Inquisitr
