On Sunday, Devin Booker hit a deep three with 0.7 seconds left in the Phoenix Suns-OKC Thunder showdown. The defending champions failed to score on the final possession, allowing the Suns to improve to 21-14.
After the game, Booker was asked about his confidence level as he squared off against Alex Caruso, one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders, in that fateful play.
That’s Alex Caruso guarding you. That’s one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. What’s your confidence level that you can get up a good look against that level of defender in that situation?
Yeah, pretty confident.
Devin Booker, the baby-faced assassin who is now in his 11th season in the league, has had his fair share of big-game environments that have toughened him up for moments like this. In 2021, he played under the bright lights of an NBA Finals series and an Olympic tournament within a span of two months.
Though Booker hasn’t returned to the Finals since then, he once again embraced the high stakes of Olympic action when he joined Team USA at the 2024 Paris Games. Between his international stints and his playoff experience in the NBA, Booker has had plenty of opportunities to test his clutch gene.
When both Caruso and Lu Dort (who provided a late double-team) closed out on the Suns’ main man, no sense of hesitation was detected as Devin Booker rose up for the shot. Now, Phoenix is the latest team to hang a loss on the once-invincible Thunder squad that 24 of its first 25 games this season.
“Greatest Awareness of Game Management”: Suns HC Praises Devin Booker After Endgame Heroics Against Thunder
In his own post-game media session, Suns head coach Jordan Ott offered his compliments to the four-time All-Star that had given the team their latest win.
He has the greatest awareness of game management that I’ve ever been around. The amount of bodies he’s sees, the amount of contact he has to take and to be able to continue to make the right play and empower his teammates.
Ott, who is in his first season at the helm in Phoenix, can rest assured that Devin Booker will continue to make big plays in the Valley for the foreseeable future.
