LOS ANGELES — Big stars are made for big moments. And Devin Booker proved to be no exception in this ongoing 2023 NBA playoffs.
The 6-foot-5, 206-pound Booker, a three-time All-Star, exploded for 45 points on Thursday night to lead the Phoenix Suns to a convincing 129-124 Game 3 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at a sold-out Crypto.com Arena.
Taking advantage of a Clippers defense that frequently double-teamed Kevin Durant, Booker drilled 18 of 29, field goals including a 3-of-7 connect rate from 3-point range. D-Book’s heroics gave Phoenix a 2-1 lead in this best-of-7 affair.
“You can’t leave Durant, obviously. He draws a lot of attention. A lot of buckets I scored I went right to him and said ‘you opened that up’” he told reporters.
Phoenix Suns take a 2-1 series lead after Devin Booker led them with 45 points against the LA Clippers
Durant also did his part to make sure the Suns wouldn’t fall into a 1-2 hole after losing Game 1 of the series at home by scoring 28 points on 8-for-15 shooting including a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw stripe.
Still, Durant, a two-time champion when he played for the Golden State Warriors, deflected all the credit and gave all the praise to Booker.
“He set the tone, got to the rim, making play for others. We are going to need him to do that moving forward,” KD said.
As if the 1-2 punch of Booker and Durant weren’t enough, the Suns also got significant production from Chris Paul (11 points and 7 assists) and DeAndre Ayton (11 points and 12 rebounds). The Phoenix bench chipped in 18 markers.
The Suns hit 42 of 88 from the field (47.7 percent) and 10-of-27 from 3 (37 percent).
The Clippers, meanwhile, got 42 points from Norman Powell and 30 from Russell Westbrook. Bones Hyland added 20 off the bench.
But it wasn’t enough for Los Angeles, which played without superstar Kawhi Leonard, who is day-to-day after suffering a sprained right knee.
It was a disappointing loss for the Clippers who shot 54.2 percent from the field (45-of-83) and 42.9 percent from long distance (15-of-35).
But this one ultimately goes back to not having Leonard in the lineup.
“It’s deflating,” said coach Ty Lue.
