Booker wins Western Conference honor
BROOKLYN – Devin Booker’s mind was preoccupied Sunday evening — and rightfully so.
He was in the Kia Center’s visiting locker room watching on television his Detroit Lions squandering a huge lead in losing to the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s NFC Championship game.
The Phoenix Suns had fallen to the Orlando Magic in the third of a sevengame road trip, too, but Booker didn’t need to elaborate on having scored 152 points in a three-game stretch.
“I’m just in a zone,” Booker said. “Just trying to hoop, trying to win.”
A day later, Booker was named Western Conference player of the week (Jan. 22-28) for the second time this season and a franchise-extending ninth one in his career that began in 2015-16.
“It’s a cool honor,” Booker said after Monday’s win at Miami to snap a twogame skid. “Like I said, the league is at an all-time high with talent, guys are putting up extreme numbers. To be named it for last week and be part of that group of high-level guys in this league, it’s an honor.”
Kevin Durant won the honor the previous week to mark the first time the Suns had back-to-back Western Conference player-of-the-week honorees since Steve Nash did it the weeks of Jan. 21 and Jan. 28, 2007.
Booker averaged 42.0 points on 63.9% shooting overall, 50% from 3, and five rebounds over a four-game stretch that started Jan. 22 against Chicago. He scored just 16 points in a two-point win over the Bulls.
The three-time All-Star opened the seven-game road trip with a 46-point blast in a win at Dallas. He followed that up with an incredible season-high 62 points at Indiana last Friday, setting a record for most points at Gainbridge
Fieldhouse, which is hosting the 2024 NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis.
Booker capped the three-game, 152point barrage with 44 against the Magic Sunday.
Averaging 50.7 points on 65.1% shooting in a three-game stretch, Booker set a record for the highest field-goal percentage for a player to average at least 50 over a three-game stretch going back to 1975-76.
“He’s just staying ultra-aggressive, which is what we want with all three of our Big 3,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said before Monday’s game at Miami. “Stay aggressive and make the right reads. Obviously, when you get it going, you get in a zone, you keep feeding the monster and our guys have done a good job of that, being selfless with that.”
Bradley Beal, Booker and Durant combined for 61 points in Monday’s win. Booker scored 22 points, Durant went for 20 and Beal added 19.
Booker is averaging a career-high 28.4 points this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.