Getty Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns during the second half of the NBA game at Footprint Center.
Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker has been lights out during his 2023 postseason campaign. He is averaging 35.9 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.2 rebounds in 10 games. In addition, he is shooting a scorching 60% from the field and 51.7 % from beyond the arc. With the Suns now on the brink of elimination after getting blown out in Game 5, his importance to Phoenix has become even greater.
Booker seemingly tweaked his foot and came out of the game for a brief period in Game 5 but eventually checked back in. Following the loss, Suns’ head coach Monty Williams said Booker’s injury is nothing to worry about.
“I think he’s OK,” Williams said of Booker. “He had a sore foot. But we wouldn’t put him back out there if we didn’t think he was OK.”
Monty Williams with an update on Devin Booker:
Chris Paul Reveals Status Ahead of Game 6
Suns star Chris Paul got sidelined with a hamstring injury since their first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Suns have been able to stay afloat without their starting point guard, but after getting blown out on the road by the Denver Nuggets in their last game, and on the brink of elimination down 2-3, the Suns’ star’s injury status is starting to become a factor.
Paul, who plays an important role as the Suns’ floor general, says he is not ruling out a return to action in Game 6.
“We’ll see. I’m trying to,” Paul said of his injury status to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Asked Chris Paul about the possibility of him playing Game 6: “We’ll see. I’m trying to.”
Paul has averaged 12.4 points, 7.4 assists, and 5.0 rebounds in 7 games in the 2023 playoffs.
Chris Paul Reveals Status Ahead of Game 6
Another player who will be key in Game 6 is the Suns starting big man, Deandre Ayton. Ayton has been praised for being one of the premier centers in the league, but that has not been on display in Phoenix’s bout with the Nuggets. He is averaging 10.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. The numbers are not too shabby, but they will need a lot more from him to combat the efforts of two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
However, Booker, the Suns’ top performer in these playoffs, is keeping an optimistic attitude about Ayton’s rough stretch during this series. He noted that having a bad string of games is just a part of the process of being an NBA player. But he remains faithful that the Suns’ big man will find a way to get back on course.
“I mean, that’s life. We’ve been around long enough to understand every night’s not gonna be your night. It’s just doing other things to make up for it. If you make a shot, miss a layup, like you don’t know what’s gonna happen there” Booker said of Ayton via HouseofHighlights.
“But energy and effort always have to be high, especially around this time. You can’t get flustered. You can’t get in your head, and I could see that a little bit with him today. So, it’s my job to just pump him up. Like its next possession. Like who cares how you play? All it comes down to is if you win or lost this time of year.”
It will be interesting to see if the Suns can extend the series and avoid elimination in Game 6.