Devin Booker Erupts for 40 Points, Gets MVP Chants as Suns Hand 76ers 1st Loss
So much for the downtrodden Phoenix Suns.
Phoenix won its third straight game with a 114-109 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, improving to a head-turning 5-2. It handed 5-1 Philadelphia its first loss of the campaign.
Devin Booker poured in 40 points on 15-of-19 shooting and drew MVP chants from the home crowd as he torched the Sixers' perimeter defense. It was business as usual for the Kentucky product, who has scored 30 or more points in three of his last five games. Last season, he put up 26.6 points per night as a volume scorer.
It was not supposed to be like this so early for the Suns.
They were an abysmal 19-63 last season, which marked their fourth straight campaign with fewer than 25 wins. Many expected them to be among the league's worst teams yet again, and Deandre Ayton's suspension for violating the NBA's anti-drug policy didn't help.
After all, he was the No. 1 pick in last year's draft and is a building block for the future.
His teammates have picked up the slack, and Ricky Rubio (21 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds), Aron Baynes (15 points, seven boards and six assists) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (14 points and six rebounds) impressed against the 76ers.
Still, Booker stole the show in a dominant performance as the best point guard on the floor. Ben Simmons struggled without the suspended Joel Embiid and finished with six points on 2-of-8 shooting, failing to match the offensive firepower on the other end (though Al Horford did score 32 points).
