If Paul leads his team through this storm and eventually tops that tier, he'll have the kind of legacy-sealing moment few superstars can claim.Īnd if you stack that on top of a nearly unparalleled statistical resume, CP3 will find himself in some lofty conversations. After it, the contenders' tier feels as crowded as it has ever been. Now, the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics have leapfrogged them, per FanDuel Sportsbook, and the Miami Heat aren't far behind.īefore Booker's injury, the Suns didn't feel like an overwhelming favorite. And Bridges has dabbled a bit in pick-and-roll ball-handling.īut the burden for creating shots, both for himself and others, will fall mostly on soon-to-be 37-year-old CP3.Īnd everyone around the league will surely be paying attention.īefore the playoffs started, Phoenix had the shortest odds to win the title. Ayton is a good post player (his post-up scoring efficiency ranks in the 76th percentile on 3.2 possessions per game). None of the above, though, has the ability to self-create from scratch the way Booker can. Johnson: 17.1 points and 3.1 threes per 75 possessions, 58.5 true shooting percentage.Bridges: 14.8 points and 1.4 threes per 75 possessions, 58.7 true shooting percentage.Ayton: 19.0 points per 75 possessions, 61.8 true shooting percentage.That responsibility will have to be spread among everyone, but especially Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson.Īll three have been solid when Booker isn't on the floor: But he won't be able to beat the Pelicans by himself.Īs good as CP3 has been, he can't entirely make up for the loss of 25-plus points per game. The Suns' net rating in those situations was plus-5.8 (the Memphis Grizzlies' fourth-place net rating this season was plus-6.2).Įven in what may be the twilight of his career, Paul has shown an ability to live up to his Point God moniker. And in those minutes, he has averaged 20.7 points, 11.4 assists and 1.6 threes per 75 possessions, with a 58.8 true shooting percentage. Since the start of 2020-21, CP3 has played 1,597 minutes (regular and postseason) without Booker. Now, he can be the one to pull his team through. In the past, he had to sit on the sidelines and watch his teams lose. The difference between those injuries and this one, of course, is that Paul isn't the one who suffered it.
And in 2018, he helped the Houston Rockets take a 3-2 lead over Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and the eventual champion Golden State Warriors before another hamstring injury cost him Games 6 and 7.
BOOKER STATS SERIES
A year later, he broke his hand during a series the Clippers lost to the Portland Trail Blazers. His Los Angeles Clippers lost that series. Seven years ago, during the 2015 playoffs, a hamstring injury kept Paul out of two games against the Houston Rockets. And if they secure three more victories, this series will surely be added to the list of playoff failures and misfortunes that already haunt Booker's teammate, CP3. The Pelicans came from behind to win that game. And during the second half of Game 2 against New Orleans, of which Booker missed all but seven minutes, Phoenix seemingly had no one to counterpunch against Brandon Ingram, who dropped 26 points on 13 shots in the final two frames. Their net rating (point differential per 100 possessions) was 3.6 points better with him on the floor. The reasons why this loss is significant are obvious.Īt 26.8 points per game, Booker led the Suns in scoring.
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