Suns' Devin Booker, Kevin Durant React to SG Tying Wilt Chamberlain's Rare NBA Record

The New Orleans Pelicans would surely be fine never facing Devin Booker again.

The Phoenix Suns guard finished with 52 points and nine assists during Monday's 124-111 victory over the Pelicans. Andrew Lopez of ESPN noted he joined the legendary Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in the history of the league to reach the 50-point mark in three straight contests against one opponent.

"Any time you get named with Wilt, it's happened very few times in my career, but you know you did something special," Booker told reporters after the win.

It was more of the same for the four-time All-Star, who also scored 52 points against the Pelicans on Jan. 19 and dropped 58 points in a matchup in December 2022. His 162 points in three straight games against New Orleans surpassed James Harden's 158 in three consecutive matchups against the Memphis Grizzlies as the highest total against one opponent for a three-game span, per Lopez.

"It was like déjà vu," Kevin Durant told reporters. "It happened, and I couldn't believe he was doing it again. You look up, and he's got 20 points in the first quarter. And then at the end, what I love about it, it was in the flow of the game. Pin downs, catch and shoots, cuts to the rim, layups, pullups. That's the sign of an otherworldly scorer."

Not even Booker can completely figure it out, as he told reporters he "doesn't really have an answer" for why he consistently torches the Pelicans.

"I just feel like I'm playing the same way," he said. "I mean, the crib is close. I have a lot of family in attendance. I grew up coming here. It's the first NBA arena I went to. So there's some history here."

It was an important win for the Suns after a 1-2 stretch in their previous three contests.

They are now 44-31 and just one game behind the sixth-seeded Pelicans for the all-important No. 6 seed in the Western Conference that would keep them out of the play-in tournament. What's more, Phoenix faces New Orleans one more time during the regular season on April 7.

Perhaps a fourth straight 50-point showing for Booker could propel his team into the playoffs and out of the play-in tournament.