Suns' surprise season ends in silence

Devin Booker moved slowly and meticulously from his locker to the exit, much the way one might expect when departing a room of peers not guaranteed to reconvene as a group.

Reality hit with force for the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.

As the book closed on a surprising return to the playoffs, culminating in what might have been measured six months ago as an implausible NBA Finals run, the Suns sat in complete silence in the losing locker-room at the Fiserv Forum, frozen by the gravity of reaching the end.

“Experience is the best teacher,” Booker said during a sombre post-game media session before rushing to hop a flight to Tokyo, where he will join Team USA.

“So, I think all of our games have gotten better and like I said, we understand how important each possession is now.

“And this feeling, I keep talking about the hurt, you know, you don't want this, and this is what you strive for, this is what you go into the summer with, and you take it and use it as fuel.”

The 24-year-old Booker was 0-for-7 from 3-point range in the deciding game in the series Tuesday. He proved to be a brilliant scorer throughout the playoffs, but going 3-for21 from long distance in the Suns' four Finals losses is going to sting for the rest of the summer.

Turnovers were such an issue for 36-year-old point guard Chris Paul that the Suns called on Booker to bring the ball up the court for all but one first-quarter possession.

The strategy did appear to save Paul's legs in a 26-point effort.

“Ain't no moral victories or whatnot. We sort of saw what it takes to get there, and hopefully, we see what it takes to get past that,” Paul said.

Suns head coach Monty Williams went to the Bucks locker-room after addressing his own team to congratulate Mike Budenholzer and multiple Milwaukee players.

Healing his own wounds and disappointment isn't going to come easily.

“I've never dealt with this kind of hurt as a head coach,” Williams said.

“I know this is going to hurt for a while. But I don't want that to take away from what our guys did this year.”