Current:Home > MyDevin Booker cooks Pelicans with 52 points, hitting career-high eight 3s in huge Suns win -NextWave Wealth Hub
Devin Booker cooks Pelicans with 52 points, hitting career-high eight 3s in huge Suns win
View
Date:2025-04-15 01:09:30
NEW ORLEANS — Devin Booker splattered all over the New Orleans Pelicans once again in leading the Phoenix Suns to a crucial and much-needed 124-111 win Monday night before a sellout crowd of 17,753 at Smoothie King Center.
Booker scored 52 points, with 37 coming in the first half, and hit a career-high eight shots from 3. He had reached six made 3s in 26 previous games, with the first being in his rookie season, before matching that number for a 27th game and finally surpassing it early in the second half against the Pelicans (45-30).
As big as the 3s were for Booker, he had five finishes at the rim in taking advantage of how the Pelicans were defending him. He had two straight driving buckets to keep New Orleans at bay after it cut Phoenix's 27-point lead to seven with 2:28 left in game.
Bradley Beal followed with a layup to push Phoenix's advantage back to double digits, 121-111, with 62 seconds left. Phoenix (44-31) wound up enduring a Pelicans' push in going 3-2 in an up-and-down road trip:
131-106 win at Spurs.
All things Suns: Latest Phoenix Suns news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
104-102 loss at Spurs (without Victor Wembanyama).
104-97 win at Nuggets (defending NBA champions).
128-103 loss at Thunder (without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander).
124-111 win at Pelicans.
This was Booker’s third straight 50-point game versus New Orleans in joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to score 50-plus points in three straight games against the same opponent.
Last season, Booker blitzed the Pelicans for 58 in an 118-114 victory on Dec. 17, 2022, in Phoenix. This season, he cooked them for 52 in an 123-109 win on Jan. 19 before family and friends — he played high school ball in Moss Point, Miss., a little more than 90 minutes from New Orleans.
Booker splashed six 3s in both games. He returned to New Orleans in a shooting slump from 3 as he was 18-of-64 from deep in 10 games since returning from an right ankle sprain that sidelined him four games.
When asked about the rough stretch from 3 after Sunday’s practice, Booker said, “Just a bad shooting time. I believe in them.”
Frank Vogel wasn’t sweating it, either.
“Just a rare stretch,” he said. “I’m not worried about it.”
Then a little under two hours before the game, Pelicans coach Willie Green said he didn’t want to be reminded of Booker’s 58-point performance.
“Devin is tough,” Green said. “There is a reason he is one of the best. We have to do better.”
The Pelicans didn’t in a game with much play-in implications.
The Suns not only moved up to seventh in the West and trail New Orleans by just a game for the sixth spot, they have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Pelicans. The two teams will meet a third and final time Sunday in Phoenix during a four-game homestand for Suns, who have the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA.
veryGood! (23)
Related
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
Ranking
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
Recommendation
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?