"I like say all the time, it's a pleasure watching a guy like that," Suns guard Josh Okogie said. View Gallery: Photos: Phoenix Suns at LA Clippers, NBA Playoffs Game 3 His 3-point play after scoring over Norman Powell in the lane gave Phoenix a nine-point lead with 42 seconds left in the game. He was finishing with either hand in the halfcourt, bullied through Terance Mann for a inside power bucket and got transition dunks off turnovers. To Westbrook’s point, Booker shot 8-of-9 at the rim in Game 3 against the Clippers, who went small and had little rim protection. We'll make sure we do that on Saturday, for sure.” “He's making some tough shots,” Clippers guard Russell Westbrook said. We just got to lock into that understanding, we got to do better.”īooker has scored 70 points in his last six quarters of this series. He was able to split us and dribble around us a lot, as well. “He was able to beat us versus our blitzes, versus our fires, versus our double-teams. “He had it going,” Lue continued about Booker’s Game 3 performance. Two years later, Booker is getting stronger and stronger as the series has progressed despite playing 45 minutes for a second straight game Thursday after playing 43 in Game 1.Īveraging 36.3 points on 60% from the field in three games, Booker shot a combined 7-of-14 from 3 in Game 2 and 3. He shot 34.5% (37-of-107) in the final five games of the series, going 7-of-28 on 3s. The three-time All-Star scored 40 points in Game 1 of the 2021 conference finals, but Booker struggled as the series progressed. We got to be better with that.”īooker has had his way with the Clippers before in the postseason. “When you got a great player like that, it's hard to kind of keep him under control when he gets some easy ones to start the game. “Early in the game, got a layup and a three off our turnovers to kind of get him going,” Lue said. He proceeded to follow that up with an even bigger offensive explosion Thursday night against the Clippers. He was able to reject the fires, reject the blitzes, he was able to split the blitzes.”īooker acknowledged Lue’s defense strategies after scoring 38 in Tuesday’s Game 2 win. “His speed and shiftiness gave us a lot of problems. We tried to blitz him, fire him,” Lue said. That’s impressive enough, but his latest one came against Clippers' coach Ty Lue’s multiple and ever-changing defenses. Knowing what they’re doing, knowing what they’re trying to do and him almost making calls before Coach.”īooker posted his fifth career 40-point playoff game to match Charles Barkley for the most in Suns postseason history. “Words like special and incredible and all those cliché words don’t really do it justice. “I don’t think you put one word to it,” said Suns guard Landry Shamet on Booker’s postseason play. To have him play that many minutes, and we needed it, and to have that kind of production, speaks to his ability to not just physically grind it out, but mentally grind it out.” “He set the tone and temperature for 48 minutes, not just from the start. “I told him after Game 1 he was the thermostat for the team,” Suns coach Monty Williams said after Game 3. When you have it going like that on the big stage, there's nothing else you can ask for."īooker will look to remain hot for Saturday’s Game 4 as the fourth-seeded Suns look to take a commanding 3-1 lead in this Western Conference first round series. I dedicate my whole entire life and I have since I was a kid to this sport and this game. He was feeling oh so good Thursday night. LOS ANGELES - Devin Booker let out a Rick Flair “wooo” after a bucket in the first half of his 45-point performance in Phoenix’s Game 3 win over the Clippers at Arena. Watch Video: Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Damion Lee reflect on game three win
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