Phoenix Suns ’Devin Booker reacts after making a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, April 21, 2021 in Philadelphia. (Photo AP / Matt Slocum)
“That’s why Book is who he is.”
Over the course of three quarters, Philadelphia 76ers sophomore winger Matisse Thybulle was doing the best job we’ve ever seen doing anyone defending Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker.
Booker was three-tenths off the field of play, with Thybulle blocking his jumper twice and not giving Booker much room to breathe. Along with the extra defensive attention from the assisting defenders that Booker is used to, he had a tough start.
But, as Chris Paul said above, Booker played “win basketball” in the final two minutes to play and close the store when he needed a 116-113 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Booker added 19 points, eight of them in the final 2:03, when the Suns started six. It was the return of the bad man who solidified in the bubble as one of the first locks in the game, making fully self-created races to close a door that still came to light for the 76ers.
His momentum was matched by the 76ers, a 9-8 lead for Philly, but Booker was the reason the 76ers never got inside the three points with possession until the last play of the game.
The first cube arrived just inside the three-point line, where Booker used a Deandre Ayton screen to separate enough from George Hill.
Again, Suns coach Monty Williams brought a screen to Booker, this time on Ayton’s elbow.
Ayton’s screen got a piece of Thybulle, who was in a bad spot recovering, and Booker took advantage of it with a nice patient touch to extend the lead to six.
After Embiid responded quickly, the Suns bounced off a Paul foul, and outside the inning everything was a Booker shot.
Maybe he thought the 76ers were going to commit a foul, and they went from the right corner to the left wing before returning to the right corner to hit the dagger.
He waved both fingers on the 76ers bench to let them know better luck next time.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s 0-for-20, I still think his next shots are going to stop,” Mikal Bridges said of Booker.
“He made the right shots, he still wants it,” Paul said.
After that Booker shot, the 76ers hit another 3, Booker made both free throws, the 76ers countered again with a 3 and then Paul was on the line with the Suns ahead of two and 0 , 8 seconds.
Paul buried the first and, with a three-point lead, intended to make the second.
He failed, Joel Embiid caught the rebound, threw it 80 feet into the opposing basket and the ball went in and out during almost the most incredible play of the NBA season.
“Just one of those things that could have made a very long flight, a long night and little sleep,” Williams said.
Booker finished the night with seven assists as well, as Thybulle did a great job getting him to deflect the shots and the 76ers defense kept coming off the shooters to give Booker less room as well.
The Suns’ victory was against a team of the 76ers that was missing three starters: Seth Curry, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris.
With this information presented, it could be assumed that this was another example of the Suns ’competition, but it was a good overall effort.
They did a fantastic job with Embiid, forcing him to eight of the Sixers ’16 turnovers. Much of that was Ayton, who had a second straight game of doing a great job limiting an MVP caliber rival.
This is the part where we get to Embiid who still has 38 points and 17 rebounds because he is a superstar and an absolutely unstoppable force.
“I thought DA was making it very difficult for him, he’s just an unreal player,” Williams said of Embiid.
“I am tough. It is very hard. He can score in every way possible, ”Paul added, also saying Ayton did a great job competing.
The Suns sometimes faced Embiid and also turned off Ayton on the ball screens, casting different glances at Philadelphia’s only reliable offensive option with those key players.
Phoenix was good at scattering Embiid the best any team could expect when he started watering towards the basket.
It’s unfair to mention Paul this afternoon, because his 28 points and eight assists kept the Suns. While it was a good win where the Suns played well, he is not in the top 10 efforts of the season, but it was one of those nights where Paul did not allow his team to lose.
Paul scored five points in each of the first quarters before eight in the third and 10 in the fourth. He didn’t check in either, and continued that absurd run in April of having 102 assists and only 13 losses in his last 11 games.
Paul’s deposits were the extra shot the team needed while Booker struggled, and he and his support cast hit the right shots to keep the Sixers close and never allow them to advance more than two on the field. second half.
Cam Johnson scored 15 points, replacing an injured Jae Crowder in the second half, and Mikal Bridges added 18 points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals and two blocks. These two were excellent throughout the game, and Phoenix is a different team when that is the case.
Jevon Carter hesitated a bit in the first three quarters and picked up on his appointment two weeks ago when he said everyone, from the coach to the training staff, told him to throw the ball.
He closed it out in the fourth, becoming a trio of 3 in less than three minutes for nine points.
“Our guys got upset with JC when he turned down a few shots and then he made it around the corner and it was amazing to see our guys concentrate around him shooting down those shots,” Williams said.
The Sixers also got these kind of contributions, which is why, ultimately, this was a matter of going back and forth instead of the Suns carrying more than 10. Danny Green (18 points), Tyrese Maxey (14) , Furkan Korkmaz (12) and George Hill (11) were both in figures for Philadelphia.
Dario Saric continued to look for the Suns, especially on defense, where he committed five fouls in 18 minutes.
It has reached the point in recent weeks that Williams may have to consider a change, either the return of Frank Kaminsky to the rotation or the small one with a striker at 5. This is a really tough decision for Williams, as would you think you want to take advantage of this time to get Saric right again before the playoffs, however, when is the right time to trust him and let the alternative use that time to find a flow?
Ayton added 10 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks. He came out well on Embiid and, although his big impact was nowhere else during the first three quarters, he made some huge plays in the quarter, including an offensive rebound that caused Booker’s first hit in that eight. . point of rise.