The Phoenix Suns suffered two losses Tuesday night: losing All-Star Devin Booker due to an injured hamstring and dropping Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The impact of both losses is to be determined in the coming weeks.
Scoring the fourth-most points in a half in his career with 31, Booker was on fire. He hit seven threes on ten attempts and didn’t take a single free throw to reach the impressive mark. All 31 points were needed as Phoenix nursed a 6-point lead at halftime before losing the game and Booker.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Thursday morning that Booker suffered a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. This injury is believed to take 14 to 21 days to heal but he could return sooner according to New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green.
With the predicted recovery timeline, Booker is likely out for Games 3 and 4 in New Orleans.
Booker previously injured his left hamstring in December which cost him seven games when the Suns went 5-2 in his absence.
In games with Booker, the Suns scored 116 points and allowed 107 points per game. Without him, the Suns scored 109 and allowed 108 points per game. Booker’s offensive output will be missed with the team’s 117.6 offensive efficiencies with him dropping to 107.5 in games without him.
That was during the regular season, now it’s the playoffs.
In those games where Booker sat on the bench, guard Landry Shamet got the nod in his place. Recently Shamet injured his left foot during practice on Friday ahead of Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs. On the injury report, he was listed as available but didn’t see any minutes in the Suns’ victory likely due to caution by the Suns coaching staff.
In Game 2 Shamet played 12 minutes and scored 5 points off the bench.
Forward Cameron Johnson could also get the nod in the starting five. Johnson is a finalist for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award where he put up 12.5 points with an impressive 42.5% shooting stroke from beyond the arc during the regular season.
Lately, Johnson has struggled to regain that top-tier form. In his last eight games, Johnson’s signature three-point shooting percentage has plummeted to 20.5% where he is 9-44 during that span.
In Game 1 we saw what All-Star guard Chris Paul can do when he goes into attack mode. The 36-year-old took over the game scoring 30 points with 19 coming in the fourth quarter (second-most in his career in a quarter) and no turnovers to stave off the Pelicans’ persistence. Paul exploited and abused the pick-and-roll by getting a larger defender on him and knocking down the three-ball and driving past him with speed to get to the basket.
Phoenix will likely have to lean on Paul again to prevail in this series. In his postgame press conference following Game 1 Paul stated “Just cause I don’t shoot often, doesn’t mean I can’t shoot”.
Paul has always been a pass-first point guard but now his team will need him to score to make up for Booker’s missed 26.8 points per game. He is more than capable of scoring 20 points a game and will likely have to keep Phoenix’s offense flowing.
The Suns should feel confident in their ability to bounce back and take this series. The loss was more due to the surprisingly red hot shooting night (56.7 3pt%) from a team who ranked 27th in that category in the regular season and uncharacteristically poor transition defense than Booker’s injury.
This team has enough offensive firepower to handle Booker’s absence but the defense on the Pelicans’ downtown shots will be key in reclaiming this series and advancing.
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