Red-hot Devin Booker is too much for Nikola Jokic’s 53 points in Suns win
Nikola Jokic scored 53 points. It wasn’t enough to keep the Suns from evening their second-round series.
Thanks to Devin Booker’s 36 points — and despite his scoreless fourth quarter — the Suns held off the Nuggets in Game 4, 129-124.
Booker was 14-17 from the field through three quarters, including some spectacular shot-making.
Booker’s 14-of-18 performance from the field gives him a two-game total of 83 points on 34-43 shooting (79.1%).
It’s not like he’s a shot-happy ball hog either: He dished 21 assists in Games 3 and 4, while also going 8-of-12 from three-point range.
That performance, along with Kevin Durant’s 36 points, was enough to overcome a monster effort from Denver’s Jokic, who scored 53 points and delivered 11 assists.
Jokic and Jamal Murray (28 points) actually outscored the Booker-Durant duo, but even without Chris Paul, the Suns’ bench outdid the Nuggets’ reserves.
Landry Shamet had 19 points and a game-high five three-pointers.
For the second straight game, the Suns were better with center Jock Landale (+16) on the floor rather than starter Deandre Ayton — who left Game 3 without talking to reporters after coach Monty Williams kept him on the bench down the stretch.
Now the series moves back to Denver, after Phoenix responded to Chris Paul’s injury with two straight wins.
The Nuggets got a lot from Jokic. Now they need some support from his teammates. Or to make Booker actually miss some shots.
More must-reads: