Former Kentucky star Devin Booker scored 36 points and dished out 12 assists last night to lead the Phoenix Suns to a series-tying 129-124 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Booker is averaging 36.8 points per game and shooting 61.7% from the floor in the playoffs. He is also averaging 7.4 assists per game.
Sam Quinn of CBS Sports says Booker might be having the greatest offensive postseason in NBA history.
Here is an excerpt:
The recent playoff action of D-Book is honestly greatness taken to another level.
36 PTS
12 AST
14-18 FG(Via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/cfphuIhom1
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 8, 2023
“NBA history” is a phrase you’re going to hear plenty of as Booker’s scorching streak continues. It may only be the second round, but Booker is making history every time he steps on the floor. At this rate, he is going to make a genuine argument for the title of “best offensive postseason in NBA history.” Here’s where he stacks up right now:
– Booker is averaging 36.8 points per game in the playoffs. Among all players who have played in at least eight games in a single postseason (guaranteeing at least two rounds of participation), he ranks fourth in NBA history in points per game. The three players ahead of him all came six decades ago: 1961 Elgin Baylor (38.1 points per game), 1962 Elgin Baylor (38.2 points per game) and 1965 Jerry West (40.6 points per game). The two players immediately trailing him? Two seasons of Michael Jordan, which topped out at 36.7 points per game, and 2009 LeBron James, at 35.3 points per game.
– Booker is now shooting 61.7% from the floor this postseason. That would set a new NBA postseason record for 30-point scorers, topping Shaquille O’Neal’s 61.2% during the 1998 playoffs. To a find a scorer who shot better from the field in at least eight playoff games, we need to lower the bar all the way to James Worthy in 1985, who shot 62.2% from the field in the postseason, but averaged just 21.5 points per game.
– Booker is shooting just under 51% on 3-pointers. Only eight 20-point scorers in NBA history have made half of their 3-pointers across an entire postseason while taking at least one per game. Booker is the first 30-point scorer ever to accomplish this feat.
– Booker has attempted only six free throws per game during this outrageous stretch. Only Stephen Curry and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have ever averaged 30 points per game across an entire postseason on fewer foul shots.
Unfortunately Devin Booker is an incomplete scorer. Ill respect him when he adds a right corner midrange to his bag. pic.twitter.com/Mlahoa5Gjl
— NBA University (@NBA_University) May 8, 2023
Devin Booker in the NBA playoffs
36 PTS, 12 AST, 78% FG
47 PTS, 9 AST, 80% FG
35 PTS, 6 AST, 48% FG
27 PTS, 8 AST, 53% FG
47 PTS, 10 AST, 70% FG
30 PTS, 7 AST, 48% FG
45 PTS, 3 AST, 62% FG
38 PTS, 9 AST, 64% FG
26 PTS, 3 AST, 53% FG pic.twitter.com/e01pf0asES— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 8, 2023
