Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker’s availability against the New York Knicks was in question up until the final injury report, but nothing was stopping Booker from playing at Madison Square Garden.
In nine career games at MSG, Booker has averaged more than 31 points. He loves the atmosphere, and he plays his best.
“I always say when I see young players that come in here that really don’t care about it, you’re not a true hooper,” Booker told reporters postgame on Saturday. “To have all the (Knicks) alumni here tonight on top of that, a bunch of living legends in the building. You have to feel it, man. That’s what it’s all about.
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“A lot of those guys laid the groundwork for us to get the league where it’s at now. You got to show love. You got to respect the history that’s come through.”
Booker was questionable for the game due to an ankle injury he’s been dealing with since Tuesday against the Miami Heat. The Suns’ star missed just one game (Thursday versus Detroit) due to his ankle, and said he’ll “be ready” for Monday against the Brooklyn Nets.
On Saturday, Booker played through the ailment and led the Suns in scoring with 27 points. He shot 7 for 18 from the field and 12 for 14 from the free-throw line.
“He played both the entire first and third quarters. Loves playing here. He was obviously not healthy – didn’t do a ton of shootaround today. Did nothing yesterday,” coach Jordan Ott told reporters. “He put himself out there. Running out of words on what to say about what he does for us on a nightly basis.
“Even when his shot doesn’t feel great because of the ankle, he’s able to get to the free-throw line, which really calmed us down, which really helped us. Appreciate his effort.”
Booker said the only time he felt discomfort was when he was forced to plant off of his ankle.
“I’ve seen him play through a lot of stuff,” Suns guard Grayson Allen told reporters. “When he wants to be out there, and if he can run up and down that court, he’ll be out there.”
Booker didn’t have the most efficient shooting night, but he was able to manufacture points at the free-throw line. Despite an inefficient offensive night, Booker entered the top 100 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, passing past franchise star Steve Nash in the process.
Booker entered the game just one point behind Nash and opened the scoring with a driving layup to pass the point guard.
At that point, Booker was nine points away from the next name on the list, Nikola Vucevic. Booker hit two free throws with 2:32 left in the first half to tie Vucevic and then made another free throw with 1:28 left in the second quarter to pass the Chicago Bulls’ center and move into No. 99 on the all-time scoring list.
He finished the half with 11 points and added 16 points in the second half. Suns guard Collin Gillespie used one word to describe Booker after the game: Dawg.
“Dawg. Hooper, man. We appreciate it. We need him out there. He gives us a different look when he’s out there,” Gillespie told reporters. “Obviously, being able to do everything – score the ball, facilitator, the gravity that he has. So we appreciate him battling for us. It’s the Garden, he wasn’t gonna miss this. We all knew that.”
Booker added to his ridiculous MSG stats, averaging 30.8 points per game.
While Booker broke the NBA’s top 100 in all-time scoring, there are four active players around him. Booker is 323 points behind Brook Lopez, and now 16 points ahead of Vucevic, 107 points ahead of Bradley Beal and 255 points ahead of Nikola Jokic.
Booker’s been a consistent scorer for the Suns all season, as Saturday was his 19th game of the season with at least 25 points, and he’s averaging 25.3 points per game.
The Suns will travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Matchups with the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday and Friday, respectively, will finish out a six-game road trip for Phoenix.
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