As the Phoenix Suns fell into a
0-2 hole against the Minnesota Timberwolves, star guard Devin
Booker remains steadfast as their team faces an uphill climb from
here on out.
Booker only scored 20 points on
6-13 shooting and ended up fouling out of the game as the Wolves
put up the finishing touches of their 105-93 Game 2 win.
The 6-foot-6 guard has struggled
over his last four meetings with the Wolves dating back to the
regular season and these past two playoff games, scoring just 13,
23, 18, and 20. He never scored more than 23, and just shot only 35
percent from the floor and 20-57 overall.
“It’s obviously something I need
to be better with,” Booker said as he finished Game 2 with six
turnovers and fouled out with 20 points.
The Suns, despite some good
stretches here and there, kind of have been caught up with the
Timberwolves’ runs in the third quarter of both games, getting
buried amidst the adversity of playing on the road.
“(This) is when you have to be
as close as ever,” Booker said. “In a hostile environment. On the
road. Just talk your way through it. Hold each other accountable.
Have honest conversations and understand it’s for the best of the
team.”
Among the issues the Suns faced
in both games, apart from the usual takes from naysayers about the
need to have a real point guard around their big three – are them
only taking 18 three-point shot attempts all game. In the year
2024, that just cannot happen.
Teams have to keep the defenses
honest, and against this stifling Wolves defense which can adapt to
any situation, being predictable with most of their shots taken in
the midrange and inside the paint is giving Minnesota the unlikely
advantage of knowing what’s coming and being able to prepare for it
defensively. The Suns have to incorporate additional offensive
sets, particularly to take more threes, stretch out the defense,
and in turn open up the paint more and give space for their three
creators to make plays.
“My frustration is just within
the team. We need to execute. We play well when we’re playing and
then we need to stick together once things turn bad. We’ve done
that throughout the season. Something that has to be
corrected.”
It does not help with the NBA’s
best three-point shooter Grayson Allen being out with an ankle
injury, but that does make the Suns all the more to have to shoot
those threes to compensate for Allen’s production. For a player of
Booker’s caliber – All-Star, All-NBA, a top 10 scorer in the
league, having that kind of performance is just unacceptable. The
Suns won’t be able to win with that kind of production from him,
and he needs to step up and provide more.
“We’re all trying to fight out
there, and so far in this series, once it’s turned to s—, we’ve
kind of separated instead of being together,’’ Booker said. “And
that’s everybody, top to bottom. It’s something we got to figure
out.”
A huge chunk of the credit
should be given to the Timberwolves’ defense as well, which is as
good as anybody has seen in 20 years. Tenacious, swarming – it just
comes right at you all at once. Booker alongside his co-stars Kevin
Durant and Bradley Beal have struggled against it for two games but
now they have to make the adjustments as the series shifts to
Phoenix.
Minnesota took care of their
home court. Now it’s up to Booker and the Suns to do the same in
theirs.
“Don’t count us out. It’s a
series for a reason.”
