Because? A question that Denver Nuggets they would also like to know the answer. And it is that Devin Booker is having some Playoffs extraordinary. Yes, this statement is often used lightly at this point in the course, but on this occasion the escort of Phoenix Suns You have enough arguments to defend your case. A case based on two key pillars in the postseason: volume and success.
The Suns have managed to stay in the series against Denver without counting on the axis of their game, Chris Paul. Something that has been possible thanks to the union of the aforementioned Booker y Durant, able to combine to 66.8 of the 117.1 points average of Phoenix in these Playoffs (57%). To put it in context, only one other couple had managed to average more than 30 goals in the Playoffs in both cases, playing a minimum of 8 games: Elgin Baylor y Jerry West en 1962. That is to say, a practically unprecedented offensive production.
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Beyond KD’s brilliance, his numbers have been more earthy, shooting 54.1% from two and 35.4% from three. the opposite of a Booker who leads in points per game (36.8), accuracy in shots from two (65.2%) and accuracy in triples (51%). In fact, the performance of the Phoenix player at the offensive level is so high that it is difficult to find a space in these Playoffs where green does not prevail on his shooting card:
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It is difficult to find deep reasons that explain Devin Booker’s unusual success, especially in the series against the Nuggets, where he has accumulated a 79,1% of precision in the Matches 3 and 4. Despite the analytical difficulty that high data entails, it can be explained through the way in which you are doing it.
The Suns player has applied a very high rate of attack, moving at an average of 6.9 kilometers per hour in each offensive action (4.31 mph). Ahead of him are names like De’Aaron Fox, Jamal Murray or Jalen Brunson, but none of them comes close to the average time he spends on court (42.5 minutes).
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By printing such a high pace to his forays to the rim, he forces the Nuggets to put an equally fast defender on him to, at least, be able to get up to par. That would mean putting Murray with Booker, with the added danger that the Canadian would suffer in the physical clash against him. In such a way, that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown have been the main responsible for the defense of the star, with Michael Malone prioritizing the positional game with respect to the moments of transition or arrival. The result? A Booker from another galaxy.
And it is that, when arriving with such speed to the opposite field, the normal thing would be to attack the rim, but the figure of the Suns has systematically chosen to shoot from medium distance, leaving Denver with no margin of response:
At this point, the adjustment that Malone could try to implement would be focused on defensive balance, that is, position himself around the rim before Booker is planted there.
The problem? What in static The Suns guard hasn’t found a rival in the Nuggets either:
Some numbers that do not seem to matter to the protagonist, who only pays attention to which team has the most victories in the overall tie.
“I’m just trying to win”, Booker said after the fourth game. “I always say that I could throw efficiency out the window. I do not care about that. You have to keep going, keep attacking, keep being aggressive.”
For Booker, it all stems from his obsessive approach to the game, with an impeccable work ethic and Spartan discipline when preparing each game. Through continuous repetition, the Phoenix player is bordering on his own excellence, which involves reaching specific spaces on the pitch and executing certain technical gestures.
“I know the places where I am supposed to be aggressive and where I am supposed to make the other team pay.”the player continued. “I do it in transition, trying to get out there and play fast, so they can’t set up their defense and double-team me. I don’t usually have open shots. So this is something new for me because of the offensive severity Durant’s”.
The latter that Booker highlighted at a press conference in statements collected by Tim McMahon is particularly interesting. Correlation does not always mean causation, but the arrival of KD to the team has released the Michigan native from a defensive pressure that previously stifled him, which is why Phoenix collapsed in 2022. Durant, due to his own offensive weight, draws a good part of the attention on the rival defense, in such a way that the rest have “more comfortable” options. That a system as precarious as Denver’s has to deal with two supernovae of the caliber of Booker and KD largely explains the numbers recorded so far in the tie.
There is only something more dangerous for a rival than the fact that the rival star has confidence in his game, that he is also comfortable on the pitch. The Nuggets have allowed Booker to deploy his entire arsenal with little opposition, because for him a midrange dribble shot is more effective than one released from 3-point range.
Comfortable, confident and on the rise, there seems to be no ceiling for the Suns star, willing to break as many records as possible if it means winning.
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
2023-05-09 08:30:04
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