Devin Booker joins Wilt Chamberlain in exclusive group at Pelicans' expense

On a night where Kevin Durant scored 20 points on just 7-for-19 shooting (3-for-11 on three-pointers), Booker stepped up big time. The four-time All-Star erupted for 24 points in the first quarter and finished 19-for-28 from the field, including 8-for-16 from downtown.

It was a crucial win for the Suns (44-31), as they're now just one game behind the Pelicans (45-30) for the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Suns hold the tiebreaker over the Pelicans.

Booker now has 162 points over his last three contests against New Orleans, the most for any player in a three-game span against one opponent in the past 50 seasons. The previous record was James Harden's 158 points against the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

According to a report by ESPN's Andrew Lopez, the 27-year-old had "more than 40 friends and family on hand from (his) hometown of Moss Point, Mississippi, less than a two-hour drive from New Orleans" on Monday.

"I just feel like I'm playing the same way," Booker said, per Lopez. "I mean, the crib is close. I have a lot of family in attendance. I grew up coming here. It's the first NBA arena I went to. So there's some history here."

Remarkably, the trio of 50-plus point outings don't sniff Booker's best efforts.

The Kentucky product went off for a career-high 70 points against the Boston Celtics on March 24, 2017 in just his second season. Booker also scored 62 points against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 26 and poured in 59 vs. the Utah Jazz on March 25, 2019.