NBA scores 2017: Devin Booker’s 28-point 4th quarter is a reason to watch the Suns

Phoenix is a struggling team without much national interest, but Booker is an exception.

Jan 13, 2017, 1:00 PM UTC

We don’t talk about the Suns much these days because there isn’t much to talk about. They’re a bad team in a small market without an immediate future. There’s nothing unique about their style or fascinating about their rebuilding approach. But they have Devin Booker, and on Thursday, Booker finally made us talk about him.

Booker was actually have a bad game, or a below average one, at least. He had 11 points entering the fourth quarter. He finished with 39.

It was a 28-point fourth quarter explosion for the Suns sophomore, who single-handedly tried to shoot Phoenix back into a game despite trailing by 12 points at the end of the third. Despite his efforts, the game — played in Mexico City — never came much closer than a 105-99 Mavericks lead. Dallas fended off Booker at every stop, and Booker’s teammates only scored four in the quarter themselves.

You might assume Booker dominated with volume, but his 39 points — tying a career-high — came on 14-of-20 shooting. He attempted seven three-pointers and made six of them. You can reasonably complain about his seven turnovers, and we’ll counter with this: he’s 20 years old.

Because we usually don’t talk about the Suns, because there’s usually no reason to talk about the Suns, you may not know Booker’s second season is going just fine — averaging 19.8 points and 3.1 assists in 34 minutes per night. The player we saw and raved about after the All-Star break, who confidently dropped 30-point evenings on a desolate Suns roster, has been around most of the season. Here’s what he looks like at his best, just infuriatingly smooth in every manner.

This, too.

Booker’s 50.3 percent true shooting is a flaw, sure. He has cut his turnover percentage by a couple points, but his assist percentage has stagnated. You’ll see him toss sharp, smart passes on a reasonably consistent basis, but it seems unlikely his playmaking will rise to point guard levels soon, or ever. Overall, his efficiency needs to improve — but damn, Thursday’s 14-of-20 shooting is a perfectly fine place to start.

(It’s worth noting that when Booker was lauded for his 19 points per game after the All-Star break last year, it came on 40-percent shooting. He was inefficient last year, too, so this isn’t a regression. Get him some more NBA talent and a couple more years in the league, and he should be fine. This isn’t anything like a Monta Ellis situation, where the scoring will always be dictated by volume.)

The Suns still are overloaded at guard, but it’s pretty clear Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight aren’t necessarily seen as fundamental parts of their future. Phoenix is headed straight towards another top-five selection in this year’s draft, and there is a loaded crop of point guards where the Suns could potentially find a long-term pairing for Booker in the backcourt. With his shooting and size, nearly anyone would fit next to him.

Booker is a reason to talk about the Suns. For a team still a few seasons off from being anything, that’s a bright spot. When he goes for 28 points in a single quarter, that’s a testament to what the Suns are holding onto. That, at least, has to sound good.

Don’t look at the Pelicans, but ...

New Orleans is only a game and a half out of the No. 8 seed. They won again on Thursday against Brooklyn — not stellar competition, but without Anthony Davis nevertheless. (Davis has a left hip injury, and was a game-time decision before being ruled out.)

The Pelicans were even down in the fourth quarter, but they finished the game on a 13-1 run for a 104-95 victory against the Nets. Tyreke Evans had 29 points, by far his best game since returning from injury in mid-December, and Terrence Jones was making plays like this (?!).

It feels like Jrue Holiday is the glue that is bringing the Pelicans together, still. They’re 13-11 when he plays, winning just two games without him so far this season. With Holiday, New Orleans puts together a top-10 defense, even borderline top-five. His solid, subtle work running the team on Thursday was paramount to the win.

Early injuries killed the Pelicans, and in another season, that would have been it. You know, like last season, when early injuries dumped them too far down the standings for New Orleans to have any realistic chance to catch up. But 2017 is different, and the Western Conference’s eighth seed is the worst playoff race in years. The Trail Blazers are clinging onto it right now with a 18-23 record, but their struggles and inconsistency (after finishing fifth in the West last year) has the spot wide open.

Anthony Davis wasn’t supposed to wallow like this, not when New Orleans snuck into the eighth seed two season ago in what was supposed to be the start of his ascent. Clearly, Davis has risen from a star to a super-mega-even-more-ridiculously-good star just fine. Perhaps the Pelicans nabbing a win without him shows they’re gonna be good enough to help him get that playoff spot in a wide-open West.