After dominating through the first four games of the Western Conference Semifinals, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker struggled with efficiency against the Denver Nuggets Tuesday evening.
Despite scoring 28 points, Booker shot just 8-of-19 from the field. That included a very surprising 5-of-12 from inside the three-point line. The end result was a Suns 118-102 road loss to Denver and a 3-2 series hole heading into Game 6 back in Phoenix on Thursday.
While Booker would rather have the win, he did join GOAT Michael Jordan on an exclusive list. According to the NBA, Phoenix’ star guard is only the second player in playoff history to record 350-plus points and 70-plus assists in his team’s first 10 games to start a postseason.
Jordan accomplished this feat back during the 1989 and 1990 NBA Playoffs as his Chicago Bulls were looking to become legitimate NBA title contenders earlier in his career. The similarities between the last time Jordan did this and Booker’s run thus far during the 2023 NBA Playoffs are striking:
| Player | FG% | FT% | PPG | RPG | APG |
| Michael Jordan (1990) | .526 | .848 | 33.6 | 6.9 | 6.3 |
| Devin Booker (2023) | .617 | .870 | 36.8 | 5.1 | 7.4 |
When you are being compared to Michael Jordan in the playoffs, you’re certainly doing something historical.
Unfortunately for Booker and the Suns, this didn’t stop them from falling down 3-2 in their Western Conference Semifinals series against Denver. There’s one primary reason for this.
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Nikola Jokic also making history for the Denver Nuggets
The two-time NBA MVP racked up a triple-double on Tuesday with 29 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists on 12-of-20 shooting.
Jokic surpassed James Harden and Magic Johnson with the fourth-most 25-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-doubles in NBA Playoff history with five. He stands behind LeBron James (22), Russell Westbrook (nine) and Oscar Robertson (eight).
He’s also the first player in playoff history with 175 points, 65 rebounds and 50 assists during a five-game span. If that weren’t enough, Jokic surpassed Wilt Chamberlain with the most triple doubles by a center in NBA history.
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Devin Booker, Kevin Durant need more help for Phoenix Suns to advance
While Jokic has done his thing for Denver, he has had some help from the likes of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. throughout the Western Conference Semifinals (38 combined points in Game 5). With Chris Paul sidelined since Game 2, that has not been the case for Phoenix.
Booker and Durant combined for 54 of the Suns’ 102 points in Game 5 despite shooting a combined 18-of-43 from the field. That inefficient shooting was not part of the conversation surrounding this star duo during Phoenix’ two-game winning streak ahead of Tuesday night’s loss.
In Games 3 and 4, this tandem shot a combined 57-of-93 from the field (61%) while accounting for 62% of the Suns’ total points. Even with wins in both games, this was not sustainable. That’s especially true with the remainder of the Suns’ roster making a combined 37 fields goals during this two-game span.
Phoenix was able to come out on top to turn a 2-0 series deficit into a 2-2 tie heading into Game 5 primarily because of efficiency on the part of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. It’s something the latter focused on even before the 2023 NBA Playoffs started.
“Playing with guys that are efficient and make quick decisions, it doesn’t have to be my turn or your turn. The flow of the game is going to dictate how we’re supposed to play,” Durant told Sportsnaut back in April. “It’s not a conscious effort that, ‘We got to get Book the ball now or get KD the ball now.’ The energy and the flow of the game will dictate that.”
With other players unable to chip in at a high clip, the game dictates how Booker and Durant have to play. We saw the end result in Game 5. Only three players on the Suns’ roster scored double-digits with Deandre Ayton putting up 14 on 7-of-12 shooting.
Outside of that, there was not a whole heck of a lot. Phoenix’ two other starters in Game 5 (Josh Okogie and Cameron Payne) hit on a combined three shots while scoring eight points.
With head coach Monty Williams being forced to expand his rotation due to Paul’s absence, Terrence Ross came through by hitting 3-of-4 from distance. The rest of the Suns’ roster, Durant and Booker included, shot 6-of-23 from beyond the arc. That’s the inefficacy Durant (0-of-3 himself) talked about recently.
The good news for Phoenix is that it returns home for Game 6 on Thursday with a chance to send this back to Denver for a decisive Game 7 over the weekend. In terms of Paul being able to provide a reinforcement and returning from a groin injury, the future Hall of Famer indicated that “we’ll see” while saying he’s “trying to.”
Devin Booker didn’t seem as confident saying this about the injury, “that’s not the one you rush.”
Game 6 from Phoenix tips off Thursday at 10:00 PM ET on ESPN.