The Suns beat the Jazz 105-97. The Suns lead the Warriors by 3.5 wins and continue to rank first in the league. Booker was in full swing, playing 39 minutes and 34 seconds, shooting 16 of 28 from the field, 2 of 6 from three-point range, and scoring 43 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal! 43 points is Booker's second-highest score of the season, after 48 points from playing the Spurs.
Booker became the first defender in Suns history to have 43 points and 12 rebounds in a single game. This was Booker's 16th career 40+ and surpassed Sis's 15th time to become the first in The Suns' history. Tom Chambers and Walter Davis are both 40+ in 9 times, tied for third in Suns history.
Suns coach Monty said: "Booker should be an All-Star starter and he proved it in tonight's game! Not just these games, but the whole season! The Suns have had 30+ in 15 single games this season, with Booker alone accounting for 14 and another time belonging to Kaminsky.
In the third round of all-Star voting, Booker was only fifth in the Western Conference backcourt, nearly 400,000 votes behind fourth-place Klay and more than 1 million votes behind third-place Doncic. Monty said: "I just smiled when I saw Booker's All-Star votes and the players who were ahead of him. ”
Booker responded: "Thank you Coach Monty for saying that. But I'm not worried about being an All-Star starter, I'm already at another stage of my career. What I really care about is whether Monty can be the coach of the All-Star Game. Judging by the team's record before the All-Star Game, Monti is likely to be able to lock in a coaching place.
In the Jan. 18 suns and spurs game, Booker shot 18-of-33 from the field, 5-of-13 from three-point range, and blasted down 48 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals! Booker became the only player in the history of the Suns to hit 45+5+5 multiple times! Booker has scored 30+ in 127 single-game appearances in his career, the suns' first in history, and walter Davis's 90 second.
So far this season, Booker has played 40 games for the Suns, averaging 33.5 minutes per game and scoring 25 points, 5.5 boards, 4.4 assists and 1 steal. He shot 44.2 percent from the field, 37.7 percent from three-point range and 86.1 percent from the free throws. His offensive efficiency is 114, the 29th in the league. The Suns have such a good record, And Booker's data is good, so why aren't the votes high?
Booker's votes were so low that even his girlfriend Jenna couldn't stand it, and she wrote on social media: "You all know, I want to see Booker appear at the All-Star Game!" Jenna has 210 million followers and Twitter has 32 million followers. It is worth mentioning that fan votes account for 50%, players and media votes account for 25% each.
Even if Booker did not rush into the starting lineup in the fan vote, he still had a chance in the subsequent player and media votes. Taking a step back, even if Curry and Morant lock in the starting backcourt, Booker will certainly be able to enter the All-Star as a substitute. This year's All-Star Weekend will take place from February 19 to February 21, will Jenna be there to watch?