The Phoenix Suns defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 125-106, in their regular-season finale.
Devin Booker and the Suns are the No. 6 seed in the West. Booker, who is the Suns’ franchise player, had 23 points and seven assists.
Booker spoke about the turn of events Sunday, when the Suns won and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the then-No. 6 seed New Orleans Pelicans, 104-28, allowing Phoenix to tie the Pelicans at 49-33 and win the sixth seed via a tiebreak.
“I don’t care about them anymore,” he laughed, via The Arizona Republic.
“Crazy how everything worked out. Long season, I keep saying the play-in makes a lot of things interesting. And I think moving forward, everybody is going to value every game now, not just the final stretch. Those losses at the end of the season you usually forget about come back and haunt you.”
The Suns needed a win from themselves and another team just to qualify for the first round of the playoffs. Without the Lakers, Phoenix would have had to play in the No. 7/No. 8 play-in game Tuesday.
The Suns advance to face the Timberwolves
Phoenix will face the team it ended its season against, the Timberwolves, when the playoffs begin on Saturday for Game 1 at Target Center in Minnesota. The game is yet to have a television channel announced.
Booker is a playoff riser. The Suns’ star shooting guard last season became the first player since Michael Jordan to have at least 300 points through the first nine games of a playoff run, doing so on a remarkable true shooting percentage of 70.
“Just everybody’s connected, everybody was communicating,” Booker said of the Suns’ blowout of a first quarter, 44-22.
The Suns’ star guard in 2021 also set an NBA record for the most points by a player in their first-ever playoff run (602).
Booker vs. the Timberwolves’ star, Anthony Edwards
To many, Booker is considered a top-10 player and the NBA’s best at his position, shooting guard.
However, some would argue the 22-year-old Edwards, who is the Timberwolves’ top player, is competing with Booker for that recognition.
The two players are likely to represent Team USA in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Will one stand out above the other and earn more minutes to try and earn a gold medal?
Current odds for the Suns, Timberwolves in the 2024 NBA playoffs
Since Game 1 is only the one scheduled at the moment, FanDuel currently lists the Timberwolves as -2.5-point favorites against the Suns.
The over-under for the game is 214 1/2 points, and the moneyline for the Suns is +108 and -130 for Minnesota.
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