No. 1 in the regular season, why can't you win the championship? After defeating the Nuggets, the Suns once again reached 60 wins after 15 years and locked in the first place in the league. If you still think that the Suns are not strong, let's look at another set of statistics: as of now, the Suns have won less than 50% of the team, 19 wins and 7 losses; against the team with a winning percentage of more than 50%, 19 wins and 7 losses; the last 5 minutes of the game, 17 wins and 3 losses. Yes, the sun has always been underestimated and has never been seen high! As the suns' star, Booker, is rarely included in the MVP's discussion, is there something outrageous?
In the win over the Nuggets, Booker shot 16-of-25 from the field, setting a two-team high of 49 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. His performance conquered the Denver Nuggets fans present. At the end of the game, the away fans also turned their backs and shouted MVP. After the game, the topic of Booker MVP quickly rushed to the hot search. Owen identified himself as Booker as MVP. Morant shouted on Twitter that everyone must give Booker enough respect. Averaging 26.3 points, 5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game and the league's first record, Booker is the most underrated MVP candidate this season.
Booker is a professional breakup and is constantly improving. Before Paul came to the Suns, Booker was the master of the Suns, giving the intuitive feeling that scoring skills are diverse, but the ability to lead the team is limited. After Paul came to the sun, Booker's superstar potential was tapped by Paul little by little. Because there is Paul on the pitch, the master of control, Booker has focused more on the offensive end. Dig up talents in your own strengths, and the achievements you have achieved are natural. In his first season with Paul, Booker's true shooting percentage soared to 60.3 percent. Booker's true shooting percentage this season is 61.7 percent, and he's constantly improving.
Paul's arrival completely changed the face of the sun, but more importantly taught Booker how to be a true leader. As we all know, Booker is a good scorer, but he is not good at leading the team. But in the 15 games that Paul missed due to injury, the Suns won 11 and lost 4, still the first in the league.
During this time, Booker did not frantically brush points, but put more energy into the tandem of the whole team. He averaged 7.4 assists per game, 2.2 more assists per game than last season. In Suns games, we can often see Booker's weak side attracting the bag clip and then passing the ball long to the bottom corner of the empty space teammate to score. If the opponent defends against him one-on-one, he uses his personal ability to score consecutive singles. Organization and scoring can be reasonably distributed, and Booker is already on the road to superstardom.
In addition to technological progress, Booker's psychological maturity has also ushered in a transformation. Booker is increasingly in control of the situation on the pitch and is playing sensibly in the right way. The game against the Nuggets coincided with The Fifth Anniversary of Booker's 70 points. Booker, who feels hot in the hand, has scored 43 points in the first three quarters of the game. If Booker chooses to score wildly in the fourth quarter, do you think he can't get 60+ in the whole game? Between personal data and winning the game, Booker chose the latter. So Booker only scored six points in the fourth quarter, but gave up 10 assists throughout the game. This also fully demonstrates Booker's psychological maturity.
Some people say that the Suns won the league first place, not because of Booker, but because they ate the benefits of the schedule. But this season's Suns have also suffered a wide range of injury problems. The Suns' role players Crowder, Payne and McGee also missed most of the games due to injury. The main players were also injured uninterruptedly, with Paul, Booker and Ayton playing only 24 games together. Booker made the most appearances, reaching 64, while Ayton and Paul both had 53 and 59. If the Suns' best regular season record is attributed to the whole people, then Booker is the most important elite in the whole country.
We define the MVP as the best performer in the regular season, but why can't this guy be Booker? In the latest issue of the MVP rankings, Booker is only in ninth place. And The Booker MVP rankings have never been in the top five all season. It's a little incredible, but I feel sorry for Booker!
As we all know, Booker has been known as the Mamba lineage since his debut. In addition to Booker and Kobe Bryant being selected with the 13th pick in the first round, Booker's personality and playing style are also very similar to Kobe Bryant. Booker plays with a flowing ball, his eyes are full of murderous spirit, he has the courage to take responsibility and never accept defeat. His body was full of the smell of mamba.
Booker won with an unsolvable shot during an 18-year-old NBA joint audition, trusted by former Suns general manager MacDonald. After being selected by the Suns, he scored 32 points against the Pacers, becoming the first player in the 15 rookies to score more than 30 points in a single game. After the season, Booker averaged 13.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, and he was named the rookie of the year. The Suns also made it clear that Booker would be used as the cornerstone of the team in the future. Even though they later selected Ayton, the Suns remained steadfast in making Booker the team's star.
In the second season, Booker, who gradually adapted to the rhythm of the NBA, began to cash in on his talent in scoring. He first caught the league's attention with a multi-game 30+. He then made 21-of-40 shooting against the Celtics, efficiently stating 70 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The game not only shocked the league, but also made Booker the sixth player in NBA history to score 70+ points in a single game. Of course, what excites Booker the most is that Booker's success in this battle has attracted the attention of idol Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, in the following years, Booker did not lead the team further and make the playoffs. But that didn't stop Kobe from liking Booker.
Kobe Bryant's final season tour in 2016 saw Bryant play his last time in Phoenix. Booker was eager to express himself in front of his idols, and as a result, he shot back and forth. Bryant also felt iron that night, scoring only 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Kobe Bryant reassured Booker after the game: The first time I played against Jordan, it was the same as your performance tonight. After that, Bryant gave Booker a pair of autographed sneakers, which read: Become a legend. Booker went back and tattooed the four words on his arm and inspired himself to keep moving forward.
"Become a legend", what a few thick words! After that, Booker did not live up to Kobe's expectations of him, led the team to the finals successfully, and continued to learn to become a qualified leader. Now Booker already has the strength to compete for MVP, but when to get it, it will take time to prove. But one thing we can confirm is that the 26-year-old Devon Booker has become a dazzling phoenix!