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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Cole Huff

With Devin Booker on the shelf for the coming weeks, where do the Phoenix Suns turn?

Stop me if you’ve heard this before — a Chris Paul-led team, following a successful regular season, is going to have a promising postseason run altered by an injury.

A HAMSTRING injury, more precisely.

You’ve seen this movie before. First, Chris Paul’s own hammy failed him as a Clipper back in 2015, and then once again as a Rocket in 2018. But the cruel twist, this time around, is that it’s his teammate, Devin Booker, who pulled up lame with a grade 1 hamstring strain that will reportedly keep him out of action and on the sidelines for the next two to three weeks.

So, what now? How does a 64-win team with the NBA’s best regular-season record move forward without its best player? The answer — the whole must be greater than its remaining parts.

You look on paper and see that 26.8 points and 4.8 assists per game are suddenly now gone. And then you scroll farther and see what remains is five players averaging more than 10.0 points per game, including one of the game’s greatest floor generals in Chris Paul.

Regular-Season Stats (2021-22):

Deandre Ayton (C)     —     17.2 PTS     10.2 REB

Chris Paul (PG)         —     14.7 PTS     10.8 AST

Mikal Bridges (SF)    —     14.2 PTS     4.2 REB

Cam Johnson (SF)    —      12.5 PTS     2.5 3PM

Cam Payne (PG)      —       10.8 PTS     4.9 AST

Such depth enabled the Suns to still be successful during the regular season, where they were a top-10 defense and a top-4 offense despite Devin Booker missing 14 games and Chris Paul missing 17.

But the playoffs are a different animal. There are no Portland Trail Blazers and OKC Thunder type of teams that you can roll out of bed and beat by 30-plus points. This is the NBA playoffs, where the better team usually comes out on top in a best-of-seven series. And there can be a legitimate debate on which roster (injuries taken into account) is currently better.

You can do your player rankings for the matchup and ultimately conclude which team is better situated to outlast the other. And while I believe the Suns can be good enough as a unit (even without Booker), Chris Paul has to control the game and be the top-3 all-time NBA point guard that the league has ever seen, which is a tall task for the soon-to-be 36-year-old.

Paul had a phenomenal showing in Game 1 (30 points, 10 assists, three steals and one fourth-quarter takeover). But he did that playing off of Booker and by picking his spots, as he did throughout the regular season. He won’t have that luxury for the time being. Will he be able to overcome and get the Suns to Round 2 while Booker gets healthy?

Phoenix has no choice but to find out.

Game Lines (Game 3)

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook

Spread: Phoenix Suns -1.5 (-115)

Moneyline: Phoenix Suns (-130), New Orleans Pelicans (+105)

Point Total: Over 225.5 (-110), Under 225.5 (-110)

Futures

NBA Championship Winner: Phoenix Suns (+330), New Orleans Pelicans (+10000)

Western Conference Winner: Phoenix Suns (+190), New Orleans Pelicans (+3000)

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