Through nearly two rounds of the NBA playoffs this year we've seen spectacular performances from some of the best players in the game. Standout players like Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jokic and Stephen Curry have been incredible as each player has scored 50 or more so far in these playoffs. However, no one has been quite as hot from game to game as Phoenix Suns Superstar Devin Booker.
Booker has been on a tear since the playoffs started, scoring 30 or more in 4 of the 5 games in a 4-1 first round victory over the Clippers. He shined in the closeout game for the series by finishing the Clippers in style dropping a playoff career-high 47 points on a blistering 70.4% from the field. Booker managed to impact the game in all aspects by grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out 10 assists and had two steals.
In the following series against the Nuggets Booker has continued his stellar play. In a must win game to avoid falling down 3-0 in the series he tied his career high 47 in a 121-114 win over the Nuggets in game 3. He was somehow even more efficient than his last 47 point performance as he shot an unbelievable 80% from the field hitting 20 of his 25 attempts. He again had an impressive all around performance by finishing with 6 rebounds, 9 assists, a block, and 3 steals to cap off one of the best performances of the postseason. In Game 4, he took over once again scoring 36 points while staying just an efficient shooting 14-18 from the field. Arguably even more impactful than his scoring was his career high 12 assists helping key bench players like Landry Shamet get quality shots. The clutch performance helped the Suns tie the series 2-2 as they defeated the Nuggets 129-124.
In the playoffs, Booker is averaging a career-high and playoff-high in scoring averaging 35.9 points per game along with 5.2 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.8 steals. Still, the most amazing part of Booker's play in the playoffs has to be his ridiculous scoring efficiency. Of the top scorers remaining in the playoffs he has by far the highest shooting percentage at 60.1% from the field. The closest players to that number is Jimmy Butler at 56.1% and Nikola Jokic at 53.4%. He has also been nearly just as efficient from three point range despite being known more for his mid range game. His 51.7% from three point range is by far the highest among the top scorers in the playoffs. The closest is Nikola Jokic who is shooting 48.7% from beyond the arc on 3.9 attempts compared to Bookers 5.8 attempts.
Though the Suns are currently down 3-2 in the series against the Nuggets, if Booker is able to continue his current pace and efficiency offensively the Suns still have a great chance to win.
Source: NBA YouTube Channel
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