On May 6, Beijing time, it refused to be 0-3 desperate, after all, no team in the history of the playoffs has ever completed a 0-3 turnover. The Suns narrowly defeated the Nuggets 121-114 after returning home, and in the absence of Paul and Ayton's slump, they won the G3 victory with a super offensive of 86 points combined with two guns, in which Booker slammed 47 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, and Durant also bombed 39 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks. Now in response to the question of who is the "boss of the sun" with two guns, Tencent News netizens voted that Booker was inferior to Durant by a slight vote, but in fact, Booker has 3 major advantages over Durant, and is recognized as the "boss" of the current Suns.
The Suns have risen rapidly over the past two seasons, including qualifying for the Finals in 2020-21, and at one point led the Bucks 2-0 in the Finals, only to lose four games in a row. In the 2021-22 season, the Suns became the regular season champion, but after leading 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals, they lost two consecutive games and were eliminated by the Lone Ranger.
This season, the Suns made a big trade in the middle of the season, bringing in Durant to strengthen and form a Super Big Four team, and it is also a favorite to become a championship contender recognized by public opinion. It's just that after easily knocking out the injured Clippers in the first round, the Suns lost to the regular season No. 1 Western Conference Nuggets in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals, which also pushed the Suns into an extremely dangerous situation.
Fortunately, in the Western Conference semifinals G3 game, the Suns used the powerful performance of Booker and Durant's dual guns to refuse to be defeated by the Nuggets to complete a 16-point reversal, and finally won back in the series. Booker blasted 18 points in the first quarter, already bombed 27 points in the first half, and the whole game was 20-of-25 with 47 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 1 block while only 2 free throws. Durant, on the other hand, rebounded strongly on 1-of-1 shooting from the top 9, then 11-of-22, and fouled 14-of-16 free throws, and also bombed 39 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks.
Booker and Durant combined for 86 points to help the Suns win back a city, so the Suns, who are 1-2 behind on aggregate, are still in crisis. It's just that although the Suns' firepower is fierce enough, they also complement each other to lead the team to win, Booker is responsible for the first offensive point to carry the heavy responsibility, and Durant is to attract the bag defense to create more opportunities for teammates. It's just that public opinion is still curious about who is the sun boss of the two, in response to such a problem, Tencent News netizens voted, the votes of the two were basically evenly matched, and Booker was inferior to Durant by a slight vote. It's just that in public opinion, Booker is actually more recognized as the boss of the sun, after all, Booker has many advantages.
Advantage 1: Booker's playoff stats are better than Durant's this year
So far in this year's playoffs, the data comparison between Booker and Durant is as follows:
Durant averaged 29.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, with four 88.1%, 34.1% and 94% of the three crosshairs.
Booker averaged 36.9 points, 5 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 2.1 steals and 1 block per game, and had three crosshairs of 60.2%, 48.9% and 87.5%.
Through a simple data comparison, it can be seen that Booker's overall data in this year's playoffs is better than Durant's, especially 7.6 more points than Durant in the playoffs, and Booker is currently the first in the playoff scoring list and steals list, shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage are also significantly ahead of Durant.
Booker averaged 14.4 of 23.9 shots in the playoffs this year, and Durant averaged 9.8 of 20.3 shots per game in the playoffs this year.
Advantage 2: Booker is 8 years younger and has more room for improvement
The 26-year-old Booker is in the prime of his career, while Durant is a 34-year-old veteran, with an 8-year age gap between the two. Admittedly, Durant has achieved greater achievements in his career, especially with two championships and two Finals MVPs, as well as one regular season MVP, and Booker has yet to win weighty honors.
However, Booker is in the prime of his career, and he can still maintain this competitive condition and continue to play, and there is still more room for improvement. On the other hand, it is still quite impressive that Durant can play such a performance at the age of 34, but as his age and injuries increase, the future decline is also an inevitable trend, so Booker is the future of the Suns.
Advantage 3: Booker has a better mass base in the Suns
Compared with Durant, who has only briefly joined the Suns for half a season, he is an absolute "outsider" and the fourth team he has played for in his career, so Durant does not have much mass base in the Suns. On the other hand, Booker is a superstar cultivated by the Suns, Booker has played for the Suns for 8 seasons so far, and his contract will continue until the 2027-28 season, Booker has deep mass roots in the Suns, naturally will be the best candidate for the Suns.
Of course, the debate over who is the boss of the Suns is more a conversation after the fans' tea, Booker and Durant are more like a "inheritance" relationship, Booker and other players will continue to grab the power to take over the baton of the older generation of stars such as Janduku. As for the Suns who are still 1-2 behind the Nuggets on aggregate, they are predicted by the big data agency FiveThirtyEight model to predict that the probability of overturning to advance to the Western Conference finals is only 21%, and the Suns still need Booker and Durant to work together to lead the team to complete the counterattack promotion.
(Text/Drunken Lying Float)