Jalen Green and Devin Booker dominated the Phoenix Suns’ 123-108 win over the Indiana Pacers. The two Suns guards combined to score 79 points on 28-for-44 shooting and 7-of-16 from three. It was a dazzling display from the midrange as both players found the space to operate against an overmatched Indiana backcourt and hit contested midrange shots all game long. This game type of game should not come as a surprise to Suns fans, the last time the Suns played the Pacers, both Booker and Dillon Brooks
scored over 30 in another dominant win.
While it was against the worst team record-wise in the NBA, the Suns’ backcourt showed its ceiling as one of the best duos in the NBA when Green is hitting shots. They played well with each other, and when Jordan Ott staggered them at the beginning and ends of quarters. We have been waiting months for this kind of Booker scoring barrage, and it appears to be coming at just the right time for Phoenix, which is now one game behind the pack for a top-six spot in the Western Conference.
As for Green, he struggled out of the gates in his return from injury, but after playing against some of the lesser teams in the NBA, he seems to have found his groove in the Suns’ offense. He will not hit every midrange jump shot as he did against Indiana, but he is building chemistry with his teammates and taking steps every single game. He still makes infuriating passes that lead to turnovers, and the shot selection is always a concern, but his ascension over this Suns win streak has certainly changed the ceiling of what this Suns team can be if he continues to play at this level.
Top Performers
Suns
Devin Booker: 43 points, 14-of-31 field goals, 4-for-7 from 3, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists
Jalen Green: 36 points, 14-of-23 field goals, 3-for-9 from 3, 4 assists, and 3 steals
Royce O’Neale: 15 points on 5-of-8 from 3
Rasheer Fleming: 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, and a team high +16
Pacers
Andrew Nembhard: 23 points, 6-for-7 field goals and 2-for-2 from 3
Jarace Walker: 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists
Ben Sheppard: 10 points, 4-of-5 field goals, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist
Jalen Slawson: 10 points, 3-of-9 field goals, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists
Game Flow
First Half
The Suns and Pacers both got off to fast starts; neither team missed a shot for the first four minutes of the game. As has been the pattern over the last few games, Jalen Green came out firing and scored 6 quick points and hit Royce O’Neale for two early 3-point shots. The two-man game between him and Ighodaro was clicking in the first quarter. After playing multiple seasons with a similar passing big in Alperen Sengun, it was only a matter of time before they started to figure things out.
Then it was the Devin Armani Booker show; he scored 15 points in the first quarter on a plethora of midrange shots and attacking the basket, even his misses practically hit the bottom of the basket before popping back out. Unfortunately, the Suns’ defensive intensity was lacking in the first quarter, and the Suns’ poor defense and mental lapses allowed Andrew Nembhard (11 first-quarter points) and the Pacers to have the game tied 36-36 after the first quarter.
The second quarter started with the Suns setting the tone on the defensive end. Ighodaro was everywhere during his early stint and engineered an 18-3 Suns run with a block on Zubac and a dunk on the other end. He and Green continued to play a lot of two-man offense with pick-and-rolls or dribble handoffs. Green had a nice drive to the rim, where he hit Rasheer Fleming for the dunk, who slot cut from the wing.
Green, while up and down, continues to show growth as a playmaker against the bottom teams in the NBA as he has gotten more reps with his teammates. The Suns led by as many as 14, up 58-44, and looked poised to crack this game wide open, but the Pacers responded. With Maluach and Jamaree Bouyea in to close the second quarter, Nembhard and Zubac closed the half strong. They hit closely contested shots for Indiana while turnovers and an out-of-rhythm Phoenix offense allowed Indiana to cut the deficit to six, with the Suns up 67-61 at halftime. Booker finished the half with 22 points, and Nembhard finished with 23 for Indiana.
Second Half
The Pacers were playing a little too well in the first half, so Rick Carlisle decided to take out Zubac and Nembhard in the third quarter. Without their two best players, the Suns jumped out to a 79-68 lead after back-to-back 3s from O’Neale and Booker. Again, the Suns were close to breaking the game open, but could not because of defensive breakdowns and the offense stalling out. Multiple times in the third quarter, Ighodaro let Huff drive right to the basket without any resistance, and Ben Sheppard got himself going for the Pacers, scoring multiple times in the third quarter.
Booker was trying to do it all for the Suns in the third quarter, forcing his way to the basket and foul-baiting. He did not get many calls, and the other Suns turned the ball over, resulting in easy baskets for Indiana to get back into it, down 83-79. Then the Suns went small with Fleming at the five and O’Neale, Booker, Goodwin, and Green, where the Suns exploded to end the quarter up 96-88 after a 3-point barrage from Booker to end the quarter, and some exceptional switching defense took the Pacers out of rhythm. The quarter was almost capped off by Green crossing up Jarace Walker and postering a poor Pacers defender, the dunk hit back rim and bounced out… oh so close.
The fourth quarter was more of the same for Phoenix. A Goodwin steal and score started the Suns off, but the Pacers quickly cut into the Suns’ lead to 98-92. Then it became the Jalen Green show. Green attacked hard off the dribble and got any Pacers defender on him sprinting back to the rim, then Green pulled back time and time again to hit the 15-foot midrange jumpers. Then the threes were falling as well as he hit one in the corner off movement from Gillespie, and another from Booker off of his gravity.
Defensively, the Suns made enough plays to keep Indiana at bay. Fleming emphatically blocked two shots in the quarter, resulting in the Suns’ fastbreaks the other way. The game was dominated by the two Suns guards, and the rest of the team filled in enough of the gaps to get the 123-108 win. While a blowout would have helped Phoenix on the second night of a back-to-back, the Green and Booker show was a joy to watch the entire game. Let’s hope the shots keep going in for the rest of the road trip.
Up Next
It is a quick turnaround for the Suns, who play the Toronto Raptors in Toronto tomorrow at 4:30 pm Arizona time.
