Shamet could step up for injured Booker
The Phoenix Suns aren’t strangers to moving forward without Chris Paul and Devin Booker this season. They were the NBA’s best team and reached their franchise-best 64 wins as their two All-Stars nearly missed half of that for a combined 31 regular games (Paul was out for 17, Booker for 14).
Players such as Landry Shamet have stepped in for Booker when he missed four games after testing positive for COVID-19.
The Suns will likely play without Booker in Games 3 and 4 of the firstround series at New Orleans this Friday and Sunday because of the “mild” right hamstring injury he suffered in the Game 2 home loss, according to his Wednesday MRI results. There’s no timetable for his return.
“It is what it is. It’s part of the game, you know what I mean. We got guys that are more than capable of stepping up,” Chris Paul said following Game 2. “I mean, Book (Devin Booker) was killing it. He was having a big-time game, but it is what it is.”
Suns coach Monty Williams believes there’s no need to panic because of the roster’s depth and they had the leaguebest road record (32-9).
Moore: Devin Booker’s hamstring latest blow to Phoenix sports fans
They’ve done it before and can do it again.
“We get to go to their place and do what we do. We’ve been really good on the road, historically good on the road, we’ve played without Chris and Book before,” Williams said in Tuesday’s postgame. “If we have to play without Book, next man up and we’ve done that all year long.”
These are bigger questions:
How long will they be without their top scorer? How well can Shamet respond to the challenge if he replaces Booker as their starting shooting guard in the playoffs, or at least Games 3 and 4?
“That’s bigtime, man. That’s just guys staying ready, and we’re gonna need guys (in) Game 3,” Paul said. “We’re gonna need everybody throughout this deep playoff run that we hope that we have. It’s been a season like that for us. Next man up, guys stay ready, and Sham was ready.”
Booker sprinted to chase down and attempted to block Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes’ breakaway dunk at the third quarter’s 4:47 mark, which put them up 77-74. After Booker landed under the basket, his gait looked slow and imbalanced. He winced and waved to the Suns’ bench to ask for a substitution, then flicked the ball with one hand to
Paul to begin their possession.
He looked as if it was a bad dèjá vu. Booker has missed 23 games since Oct. 2018 because of hamstring injuries, including seven in December. The Suns were 8-6 without Booker, including 5-2 without him in said month.
Williams replaced Booker with Landry Shamet 22 seconds later. Booker didn’t return and ended the night with a 31-point explosion that came in the first half.
Shamet finished with five points and one steal in 111⁄2 minutes.
His two scoring plays were crucial in shaving the Pelicans’ lead and brought the sold-out crowd to its feet.
“He brought a lot of energy,” Cam Johnson said about Shamet. “He hit a big shot and had a nice dunk on baseline, so for him to step up and be ready to take that and take those opportunities is big.”
Shamet missed practice on April 14 with a left foot injury and was questionable for Game 1. But after he was elevated to available for Sunday’s series opener, Shamet was listed as DNP Coach’s Decision alongside four other teammates (Aaron Holiday, Bismack Biyombo, Ish Wainright, Elfrid Payton) for the series’ first two games until Williams was forced to change his mind.
“I just decided to shrink the rotation,” Williams said following the Suns’ Game 1 victory. “I talked to him before the game and told him what I was thinking, having a longer defender on (Brandon) Ingram was the idea. But there may be opportunities for Landry to get out there.”
Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton will probably play more minutes to carry the Suns’ scoring load in Game 3. But Friday’s matchup could be Shamet’s moment to shine like Cameron Payne’s breakthrough performance when he replaced Chris Paul in last year’s SunsLakers
first round series Game 2 after Paul suffered a right arm stinger early in that contest.
Shamet averaged 8.3 points, hit 39.4% of his shots including 36.8% from deep with 1.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists in 20.8 minutes through 69 appearances and 14 starts during the regular season.
In Booker’s absences this season, Shamet’s stats marginally increased to 12.4 points, 40.3% shooting overall and 40.9% from deep, 2.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 free throw attempts from 1.2 in 29 minutes. His 112.1 was the Suns’ best defensive rating, trailed by Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Mikal Bridges (109.6).
Williams said besides losing Booker in Game 2, the transition defense was “the worst we’ve ever looked” since he arrived in Phoenix three years ago, and it was “unsettling” for it to happen in a playoff game.
But he praised Shamet’s performance. “I thought he was really good,” Williams said. “To be able to come in and attack the basket that way and then knock down a 3 out of the timeout, he’s a guy that’s gonna stay ready. I mean we’ve been in this situation before where Book or Chris have been out.
“Now we gotta make that adjustment, but it’s gonna start with playing with a great level of intensity in every area. I thought we handled the offensive rebounding a lot better tonight but then we took a step back in transition, and so we just gotta put it together.”
Shamet has to put it together by not just scoring more, but making big plays in the clutch.
He did that in his season-best 27- and 21-points outings, both against the Kings in Phoenix’s regular season finale loss on April 10 and in its overtime win on March 20, respectively.