MINNEAPOLIS — Devin Booker lost his dribble on the baseline, but the Phoenix Suns guard recovered and dribbled to the corner. Minnesota big man Rudy Gobert smothered him, trapping Booker in the corner. It appeared he had nowhere to go.
But in a flash Booker reversed, dribbling behind his back to the baseline, giving him a step on the 7-foot-1 Gobert. Booker kept the ball in his right hand, using the rim as protection from the trailing Gobert and banked home a nifty reverse layup. He fell to the Target Center court.
The first-half play captured what Saturday was like against the Timberwolves. Nothing was easy for Booker. The only difference is this shot dropped. The rest of the afternoon was a struggle, a main reason third-seeded Minnesota dropped sixth-seeded Phoenix 120-95 in Game 1 of this Western Conference first-round series.
Tough take, Book 😤 pic.twitter.com/GZkbhfljjW
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) April 20, 2024
An opening loss on the road is far from a death sentence in a seven-game series. Phoenix, after all, lost Game 1 at home to the Los Angeles Clippers last season before winning the next four. Win Tuesday and the Suns return to Phoenix with home-court advantage. Momentum can change that quickly.
Even so, Saturday’s result produced an undeniable takeaway: The Suns can’t win this series without Booker playing a starring role. Even with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal aligned beside him, he needs to be the alpha. It’s his time. His team.
In Game 1, Booker shot 5 of 16 from the field, finishing with 18 points, nine below his season average. Battling early foul trouble, he never found a rhythm. The only time he made consecutive shots came in the first quarter. His biggest offensive contribution came from the foul line, where he made 6 of 6, all in the second half.
“We all just need to adjust to the playoff physicality,” Booker said. “They’re being ultra-physical with me, and then I had three early fouls and (went) to the bench. Then it was just trying to find a rhythm from there.”
Entering Saturday, much was made of the regular-season matchups between these teams. Phoenix beat Minnesota in all three contests, by an average of 15.7 points. Booker averaged 22.3 points in those games, but the Timberwolves did a decent job defending him, holding him to 42 percent shooting. Of the Western Conference teams Booker played more than once, only Utah (41.7 percent) and Houston (41.4) did better.
“Credit their perimeter players,” said Suns coach Frank Vogel, mostly referring to Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. “They got some great perimeter defenders on that team, (but) we can be more creative in getting (Booker) open.”
The physicality was clear. Not long after the reverse layup, Booker drove through the lane against McDaniels. At 6-9, McDaniels is among the league’s top defenders, someone who takes the court with the mindset that he is the top defender. Against Booker, McDaniels kept his arms up, but Booker thought he lowered them, making contact. He didn’t get the call.
Booker pleaded to official Marc Davis. After missing a jumper, he spread his arms in disbelief, still fuming. At the next dead ball, Booker discussed the play with official Aaron Smith.
“Guys like that you just got to D up every possession and accept the challenge,” Alexander-Walker said. “He’s made a name for himself as a scorer and complete player. An All-Star. For me, the mentality is, if he scores, technically, he’s supposed to because of who he is, so I just approach it as if I have nothing to lose.”
Phoenix did not play with similar urgency, a trap the Suns have fallen into before. They knew Anthony Edwards, who struggled against them during the regular season, would be better, and he was, scoring 33 points. They knew the Timberwolves would come out with something to prove, and they did, igniting the home crowd.
The Suns were outscored 65-44 in the second and third quarters. They were hammered on the boards, giving up 20 second-chance points. While that may be expected given Minnesota’s size, the Suns did little to counter. Durant scored 31 points, but had five of the team’s 15 turnovers. The league’s most accurate 3-point shooter, Grayson Allen, didn’t have a field goal and left in the second half with a sprained ankle. Beal had 15 points and Royce O’Neale added 14, but more was needed.
Especially with Booker struggling to find a comfort zone.
“I just think he missed some tough ones and some easy ones that he normally makes,” Durant said. “He could be more aggressive and shoot more shots in the first half. But for the most part, he’s trying to play the right way. He’s trying to play hard. I’m not worried about Book.”
Vogel reminded everyone that this is still a new team. That just because certain players have postseason experience, it doesn’t mean this Phoenix group is postseason-tested. Every game will be a learning experience. The next step is responding. Game 2 is Tuesday.
“I believe in the guys and experience level of the guys that we have in our group and what we’ve done individually in our playoff experiences, but we got to go through it together,” Vogel said. “It’s not always going to be smooth, but adversity is good for us.”
GO DEEPER
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GO DEEPER
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(Photo of Devin Booker: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)