The Phoenix Suns faced the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. The Suns despite Chris Paul’s absence came out with a fantastic win over the Clippers to take the early lead in the finals. Both the teams missed crucial players as the Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard and hence the game became more exciting and evenly poised.
It did live up to the expectations of the fans as Devin Booker and Paul George dropped huge performances for their respective teams. PG 13 dropped 34 points and was exceptional with his presence on the court. However, it was Devin booker who changed the course of the match with his 40 points triple-double which included 11 assists and 13 rebounds. His exceptional performance led the Suns to a 120-114 win.
It was the best performance in his short playoff career and looking at the way he is playing there can be many more such nights in future. He has grown ten folds from last season and is evolving as a proper superstar in the league.
After the match winning performance, D Book credited Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant for inspiring him to perform in such a way. He said, “I’ve been a student of the game for a really long time.
“Kobe, obviously, being one of my mentors and Chris being one of my mentors and not being able to be here with us today. We wanted to do it for him.”
He added, “We talked about that pregame we knew we were going to all have to give it a little bit more…. Ball security you know my job keeping everybody involved, stuff that’s usually on Chris’s plate you know we all had to make up for today as a team.”
D Book also spoke about Kobe’s strong mentality which has helped him. “Just the mentality- people say the Mamba mentality. Just the approach of you know doing whatever it whatever it takes you know at all costs to get a win.”
Booker has always been a great scorer but against the Clippers, he was exceptional with his vision and passing as well. This change has taken place since CP3 has joined the Suns. But now with him out for an indefinite period, the 24-year-old is all set to carry the Suns forward.
