Against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, perhaps fighting with a slight New Year’s Eve hangover, Devin Booker encountered one of the most challenging shooting nights of his career.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In the Suns blowout win, Booker made just four shots on 16 attempts, ending the game with 10 points. It was his lowest total in over a month and his second-lowest scoring night of the season.
And it was not as if the shots he missed against the Trail Blazers were overwhelmingly difficult. For the most part, they were almost gimme mid-range jumpers.
Which is exactly why Jusuf Nurkic wants D-Book to continue shooting, no matter how small the basket may seem on a rough night like Monday.
Nurkic explained, “I want him to take all these shots. They’re wide-open shots. I don’t care if he misses 20 in a row. 21st goes to Devin Booker. If we want to win the championship, that 21st one is big for us.”
Video credits to Duane Rankin at AZCentral.Â
"I want him to take all these shots. They're wide open shots. I don't care if he miss 20 in a row. 21st goes to Devin Booker. If we want to win the championship, that 21st one is big for us."
Jusuf Nurkic after Devin Booker 4-of-16 night. #Suns pic.twitter.com/VU9uaXmO00
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 2, 2024
What the Suns win against Portland proved was that they are not all reliant on their two top scorers. Even with KD out with an injury and Booker scoring a mere 10 points, Phoenix easily walked away with a 21-point win.
Down nights will come from Booker, but what history has shown is that they will very rarely come in two games in a row. In fact, the last time Booker had back-to-back games of 10 points or less, while fully healthy, dates all the way back to his 2015 rookie season.Â
