PHOENIX — A long break, but a short memory.
Though there are 72 hours between Games 3 and 4 of the NBA Finals in Milwaukee, Suns star Devin Booker pledged to rid his mind of his ugly 3-14 performance. It’s hardly the first clunker of his career, but in the grinder of the Finals, where one down night is magnified, talked up, and questioned, Booker tried to set his performance aside even as he was asked constantly about it.
“Simply, you just have to be better if you want to win the game,” Booker told reporters Tuesday. “It’s a good pressure. These are the moments that you prepare for, that you train so hard for is what we’re in right now, so you have to be excited about it.”
Some of the fixes should come naturally to the two-time All-Star. Booker attempted just two shots in the paint in Game 3, and was reliant on the deep ball, where he converted just 1-7. To make things worse, Booker got to the line just five times. It’s hardly the type of game Suns fans have come to expect from their franchise cornerstone.
Yet Booker is also 11-21 from the field combined against Khris Middleton and P.J. Tucker, per NBA.com, a sign that he has an answer for both of the primary defenders the Bucks will throw at him. And Booker tends to score well in first quarters, so a bounce-back could come early in Game 4.
Other solutions may be harder to come by. The pull-up threes early in the clock that Booker feasted on in a magnificent Game 2 disappeared on Sunday night, as Bucks defenders played Booker and backcourt mate Chris Paul much tighter and took away a lot of the Suns’ transition offense. That, combined with Milwaukee’s ability to control the pace of the game, meant Booker looked uncomfortable much of the night.
Looking backward during this run, however, gives the Suns a reason to be optimistic Booker will be better on Wednesday night. Booker was 8-22 and 0-5 from deep in a slugfest of a Game 4 in Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals, then responded with 31 points in Game 5 and 22 in a decisive Game 6. He is not a player who needs much to get into rhythm, and score either on or off the ball.
Over the weekend, the Suns’ star played near his worst while the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo was his legendary best. To reclaim control of the series, the Suns will need Booker to dispose of the bad and quickly rediscover his best.
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