On January 27, Beijing time, the Suns, the first in the NBA regular season league, defeated the Jazz Hao 105-97 on the road to win 8 consecutive wins. The two teams gave injury lists before the game, with jazz core Mitchell and Gobert both absent, while Suns centers Ayton and McGee were also unable to play due to injury. After the game began, Booker showed a fiery feel and scored 21 points in the first quarter of 8 of 11 to help the Suns take a double-digit lead. Although the tenacious Jazz narrowed the gap to just two points in the final quarter, Booker's murderous mid-range helped the Suns win the game. Booker scored 43 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, and Paul had 21 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, including 15 points in the final quarter.
As the Suns' top scorer, Booker can average 25 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1 steal per game this season, although the average score per game is not the highest in the league, but in the position of shooting guard, Booker is also considered to be in the league's top ten. But in the latest round of all-Star voting, Booker can only be ranked fifth in the Western Conference backcourt, some distance away from the All-Star starter.
It also made Suns coach Monty a little uncomfortable, and Monty said of Booker's performance in an interview: "When I saw Booker's All-Star votes and the players in front of him, I just smiled. When you see what Booker has done, not just these games, but the whole season, and the victories we've won, we know he should be an All-Star starter, and tonight's game is one of the games in which Booker proves it. It seems that coach Monti is very concerned about the lack of popularity of his disciples.
Booker himself was very low-key, and Booker said he was more concerned about making Monty the All-Star Game coach, and then Booker added: "I appreciate Coach Monty for saying this, but I'm not worried about whether to become an All-Star starter, I'm in another stage of my career." In fact, on the issue of the All-Star, Booker has already experienced it once last season, when Davis was absent due to injury, Booker became a replacement, and then Booker did not play because of injury. This season, Booker is noticeably more mature than before.
Paul, the old cannon, is also another key figure in the Suns' success, not only controlling the Suns' overall offense, but also often harvesting games at the end of the game. So far this season, the Suns have achieved the league's best record of 17 wins and 3 losses in the game at key moments, while Paul has 235 points in the league with 235 points in the league, 1st in 120 leagues in the final quarter assists, 25 league firsts in the final quarter steals, and +123 league 4th in the final quarter, calling Paul the king of the final quarter of the season.
The Suns, led by Paul and Booker, finished first in the league with a 38-9 record, creating the best start in Suns history. At the same time, when facing teams with a winning rate of more than 50%, the Suns have a record of 19 wins and 7 losses, and against teams with a winning rate of less than 50%, the Suns have a record of 19 wins and 2 losses, both of which are the best in the league. So do you think the Suns are the most championship-winning team this year?