If you were tasked with putting one game on for historians to give a proper representation of the 2023-24 Phoenix Suns, Monday’s 124-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans is your winner.
A tale of two halves spotlighted Phoenix’s immense potential in the first half before its season-long issues appeared for the final two quarters to make the finish a lot more eventful than it had to be.
The Suns were lucky to get a 52-point masterclass from Devin Booker. He also added nine assists on three turnovers.
At some point in January, Phoenix implemented a change to more or less give the keys of the offense to Bradley Beal as the “point guard” out of anyone. An under-discussed aspect of this transition was taking that away from Booker, the better floor general and player who since then had to reconfigure how he would impact games. It has waned more than usual this season, and that is one of the reasons why. He still had his fair share of possessions running the offense but his usage in that way has been more inconsistent than it had been in years past.
On Monday it was more of Booker bringing the ball up and it was exactly the spark he needed after two underwhelming performances.
Booker scored 24 of his 52 in the first quarter, following up his 52-point effort in New Orleans in January. It was one of those shot-making clinics he puts on display when no one has a chance at guarding him and every possession that doesn’t end with him double-teamed is puzzling.
