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The Phoenix Suns handled business in NBA Cup play on Tuesday, beating the San Antonio Spurs 104-93.
The Suns were without star Kevin Durant for most of the game as he went down with a https://twitter.com/Gambo987/status/1864152463382859814?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet in the second quarter, finishing with 13 points in 16 minutes.
With no Durant, Phoenix looked to his co-star Devin Booker and he delivered, dropping 29 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the win. Booker also reached the 15,000 career point mark on Tuesday, making him the ninth-youngest player to reach that mark.
The Suns didn’t get much production from their third star as Bradley Beal had just 10 points, but Booker’s performance made up for it.
After the win, fans praised Booker for putting the team on his back in the win.
Gerald Bourguet @GeraldBourguet
Devin Booker helping stabilize things here in the 4th quarter. He’s got 5 of the Suns’ 6 points as part of a 6-0 run to push the lead back to 11
ً @irisxrr
Shoutout devin booker
???????????? @DatGuyDominixk
Feed Booker!!!!
Chris @chrisdigiusto
Plumlee with the block and Booker with the 3! 7-0 run to go up 9.
Tone ???? @SunnyKid_11
Suns finally playing hard
Trevor Booth @TrevorMBooth
Devin Booker just became the ninth-youngest player in NBA history to score at least 15,000 career points.
Dude in 2021 set the record for most points by a player ever in their first playoff run.
Yet I’m supposed to believe he’s not one of the top five players in the game?
Ryan Borthwick ???? @RB_1875
DEVIN. BOOKER. ????????
Blinded by the Suns @AZValleyGuy
Devin Armani Booker…the 9th youngest player to reach 15k what a generational talent
Coming into Tuesday’s matchup, there were a handful of scenarios that could help the Suns advance to the NBA Cup knockout round. The first was getting the win plus the Oklahoma City Thunder losing to the Utah Jazz, but that didn’t happen.
Phoenix could also advance with a win plus the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers both losing, but the Mavs won their game.
The Suns’ last bit of hope of moving on in the NBA Cup was winning the point differential. That wasn’t in Phoenix’s cards as it needed to win by at least 28 points.
But the Suns have bigger goals than winning the NBA Cup. They’ll now shift their focus to getting Durant healthy and improving after a few weeks of struggles.
