Getty Devin Booker (right) and Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns.
The Phoenix Suns took care of business in Game 2 defeating the Los Angeles Clippers by a final score of 123-109. Phoenix has now evened the series at 1-1, as they will head to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday, April 20.
Midway through the second quarter, the Suns trailed by as many as 12 points. That’s when superstar Devin Booker started to find his groove. He finished with 38 points, including an 18-point third quarter, on 14-of-22 shooting with nine assists.
Head coach Monty Williams said he’d considered taking out Booker but then rolled with the hot hand once he saw that Booker was in a groove.
“I was planning on taking him out the first two minutes of the fourth. Then he got going,” Williams told reporters after the game. “And then I said, ‘One more play, one more play,’ but he just kept hitting shots. So I just let him go.”
Williams doubled down on praising Booker, saying that the entire team feeds off him when he is rolling.
“When he’s going like that, I think the teams feed off his high-level play.”
“When he’s going like that, I think the team feeds off of that.”
Monty Williams said he was planning on giving Devin Booker a break near the end of the 3rd quarter. His thought process was “one more play, one more play, but then he just kept hitting shots.”
Devin Booker Hit Four 3-Pointers
Booker stepped up to carry the team, including by hitting 3-pointers. He was 4-of-7 from behind the arc after going 0-of-3 in Game 1. He also was 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
His four 3-pointers was the most that Booker had made in a game since since March 8, when he had six against the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to John Gambadoro of ArizonaSports.com. Booker had gone 15 straight games without making four 3-pointers. A career .351 3-point shooter, Booker averaged 6.0 attempts per game during the regular season. In the postseason, in games that Booker has made three or more 3-pointers, the Suns are 8-4.
Interesting nugget here – Devin Booker’s four three pointers tonight were the most he has hit in a game since March 8th when he had 6 against OKC. He had gone 15 consecutive games without making 4 three pointers.
One of his 3’s was a buzzer beater at the half that tied the score and changed the trajectory of the game, according to Arizona Sports’ Dan Bickley, because the Suns took control in the second half.
“He was the best player on the court,” Bickley wrote. “And after one of the finest quarters of basketball he’s ever produced as a professional, Booker might’ve just saved the season.”
Monty Williams Praises Suns’ Defensive Intensity in Second Half
Phoenix battled once again with the Clippers throughout the first half. After trailing 29-24 at the end of the first quarter, the Suns tied the game heading into halftime after a three-point buzzer beater by Booker.
But it was the second half in which the Suns looked to flip a switch. Phoenix’s defensive intensity picked up as the second half got underway. It resulted in a quick 6-0 run by the Suns, forcing Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue to take a timeout to regroup.
The Suns took a 92-87 advantage into the fourth quarter and never looked back, outscoring the Clippers 31-22 in the fourth quarter. Williams praised the defensive adjustment of the Suns after the break, saying that it was a lot of “juice, toughness, and grit” from his team.
“Coming out of the halftime break it was just … juice, toughness, grit,” Williams said. “Offensive execution was decent. But I thought we were able to get the stops in a row to start the half. That really gave us a lot of energy.”
“Grit.”
Monty Williams early postgame comments on late run to end second quarter and to start the 3rd, Devin Booker’s 38-point night and Kevin Durant moving off ball. #Suns #NBAPlayoffs #ClipperNation