The Suns have won six straight before the game against the Nuggets, and they will challenge the Nuggets back-to-back. The game was extremely important for them, on the one hand, the Nuggets were their opponents in the Western Conference semifinals last season. On the other hand, if they can win this game smoothly, then the Suns will have 60 wins and will directly lock in the league first place. In addition, Paul will also make a comeback in this game.
In the first quarter of the game, the back-to-back Suns were slightly tired, and the Nuggets made a 9-2 start, but Booker scored consecutive points in the final period to help the Suns draw with their opponents in this quarter. In the second quarter, the two sides engaged in a tug-of-war, the score alternately rose, and the Nuggets eventually had a slight advantage, taking a temporary lead of 68:66 at the end of the half. In the third quarter, Paul helped the team to surpass the score in the opening stage, and the two sides were still in a tug-of-war, and before the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets were 2 points ahead. In the final quarter, Booker and Bridges played to help the Suns take the lead, and finally withstood the Nuggets' counterattack to win 140-130.
In this game, Booker was undoubtedly the brightest point in the game. Booker played 39 minutes, 16 of 25 shots, including 2 of 5 three-pointers, in addition to 17 free throws and 15 of 15 free throws, madly cutting a season-high 49 points, in addition to 4 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals, the overall performance was extremely incomprehensible on the offensive end and the organizational end. In the first quarter of the game, Booker was already in full swing, shooting 5 of 7 in a single quarter, including 3 of 3 three-pointers and 2 of three, frantically cutting down 17 points to help the team equalize the score after the start.
In the second quarter, Booker got more rest, playing only 5 minutes in a single quarter, but also cut 7 points on 3-of-4 shooting, and 24 points at halftime, and his performance was just beginning. In the third quarter, Booker played the whole quarter, shooting 6 of 9 in a single quarter, and constantly killing the basket, scoring 19 points in the single quarter, helping the team to always cling to the score. By the end of the final quarter, Booker's hand felt slightly reduced, and he only scored 6 points on 2-of-5 shooting in the quarter, but he delivered 4 assists, and it was he who threaded the needle in a row, and the Suns finally locked in the victory. In addition to the offensive end, Booker was extremely tough on the defensive end, and gave many wonderful steals.
Under Booker's god-level play, the Suns also finally won this game, thus reaching a record of 60 wins and 14 losses, locking in the first place in the West and achieving the third 60 wins in team history. The last time they won 60 games, it goes back to the time nash led the team, and in the 2004-2005 season, the Suns made 62 wins and 20 losses under the leadership of Nash and Xiaosi. At present, the Suns have seven games left in the regular season, and if they maintain their current form, they have every chance to achieve the best record in team history. Before the start of the regular season, few fans could have predicted that the Suns would be so good this season.
In the last season, although the Suns reached the Finals as the second in the West, they eventually lost 2:4 to the Bucks and did not qualify for the championship. In the offseason, when many teams spent a lot of money to recruit, the Suns did not have much reinforcements, and they also suffered injuries at the beginning of the season, so almost no fans were optimistic about the Suns this season. But soon, after the ups and downs of the previous few games, the Suns played an incredible state, once achieving 18 consecutive wins, breaking the longest winning streak in the history of the team, after the Warriors and other teams were in a slump, the Suns still maintained a hot state, even if Paul was injured, the Suns performed very stable, and have now locked in the first place in the West in advance.
The reason why the Suns can achieve such an achievement is inseparable from the following points. First of all, the insoluble combination of Paul and Booker is undoubtedly the main reason. Although the former has turned 36 this season, he still maintains a very high level of competition this season. So far, Paul has played for the Suns with 15 points, 4.5 rebounds, 10.7 assists and 1.8 steals, shooting 48.9% from the field, and has once again been selected for the All-Star team. With few games left in the regular season, Paul has all but locked up the total assists king of the season.
The latter, after a metamorphosis last season, has gone further this season. So far, Booker has played in 63 games for the Suns, averaging 26.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5 assists per game, all three of which have improved compared to last season. During Paul's injury, Booker, who led the team alone, led the team to an 11-4 record, which was unimaginable to Booker in the past. After scoring 49 points in this game, many players and fans outside said that Booker fully deserved to be the regular season MVP of the season. Judging from the current trend, Booker will become a popular candidate.
More importantly, Booker and Paul are completely complementary beings. Because of Paul's arrival, Booker was able to grow from a scoring machine to the current All-Star level player, and Booker's insoluble scoring ability also made Paul's pass more threatening. As can be seen from this game, the two worked together seamlessly on the field. In this campaign, Paul has just returned to cut a large double-double of 17 points and 13 assists, including many times with Booker, and it is precisely because of Paul's defensive containment that Booker can score more easily. In addition, Paul's comeback also bought more rest time for Booker.
Secondly, the Suns currently show a strong team combat capability. According to statistics, a total of 6 people in the Suns team are currently averaging double figures per game, which is not counting Crowder's average of 9.5 points per game and McGee's average of 9.3 points per game. At present, they can average 27.4 assists per game, which is the fourth highest in the league, and many statistics are at the top of the league. In short, the overall strength of the current Suns is the strongest in the league, and the performance of both offensive and defensive ends is extremely dominant, and such a strong team combat ability will benefit them endlessly in the playoffs.
Judging from the current league structure, the Suns have become the most powerful contenders for the championship this season. Of course, as Paul says, what is achieved in the regular season is not the end result. However, after last season's Finals experience, the Suns are now more mature, and they will be stronger in the playoffs.