Devin Booker’s terrific night topped by Trae Young in 4th, Suns fall to Hawks

PHOENIX — Through three quarters, Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker had 30 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

He was clearly the best player on the floor in a tightly-contested game. But the only issue is there was one more quarter left to play.

That’s where Atlanta Hawks rookie point guard Trae Young came in and took over the game.

Young was ice-cold for most of the night, but got hot when it mattered with 17 fourth-quarter points. On the other side, Booker scored only two points (when the game was effectively over) in the fourth quarter of a 118-112 loss.

Booker finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists as his pursuit of his first-career triple-double continues.

Young, meanwhile, was 3-of-3 from the field in the first three minutes of the game, but then proceeded to miss his next 10 shots and score only three more points through three quarters.

In the fourth, however, Young exploded for 17 points, five rebounds and two assists to finish with a line of 27 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

He got in that Stephen Curry zone where anything was going in from deep and he was able to create enough space for his lethal jumper.

i mean…

come on. pic.twitter.com/5lU6eZfxKO

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 3, 2019

“He’s just so talented,” Booker said of Young after the game. “His IQ and feel for the game are like he’s been in the league for 10 years. He’s seen probably every coverage this year and learned to adjust to it. He has that killer mindset.”

Elsewhere on the court, the Hawks presented a major mismatch at the power forward position, where their best player, John Collins, resides.

On most teams in today’s NBA, Collins would play the center position. Not in Atlanta due to Collins’ ability to also shoot from deep, and with the Suns playing wings only at the position, it looked like it could be an issue because of Collins’ rebounding prowess.

Collins’ 35 points and 16 rebounds proved that to be true. He had 10 of his 16 rebounds on the offensive glass while the Suns as a team finished with 10 offensive rebounds.

“We couldn’t complete possessions even when we played hard,” Kokoskov said of the effort as a whole. “Not enough discipline to contain the ball, to execute the gameplan and to rebound the ball.”

The game was close throughout, but Booker hit an extra level in the third quarter that suggested he was here to get the Suns a win at home.

Phoenix (11-43) led 86-79 with 1:42 left in that quarter after a pull-up jumper by Booker made it 11 points for him in the third.

With Atlanta (17-35) playing in Utah the night before, it was a perfect time for the Suns to clamp down and close out the game from there. Instead, the Hawks closed that 1:42 stretch on a 7-2 run.

After three minutes of rest in the first half, Booker played the entire third quarter and came back out to start the fourth. He couldn’t get going, though, missing two shots before being subbed out for two minutes at the 6:03 mark.

The Suns had the lead 97-95, but while Josh Jackson scored six straight points while Booker rested, Young answered with six of his own.

Booker couldn’t find his rhythm coming back in with under four minutes left, the Suns’ offense stagnated and Young hit a few more shots while the Hawks couldn’t stop rolling en route to a win.

The loss hurt for the Suns for a multitude of reasons, one of which was other strong individual performances on offense.

Jackson scored 25 points, Elie Okobo had a career-high 11 assists and Mikal Bridges finished with a career-high 20 points.

Phoenix had 38 fast break points in the losing effort. It’s the most fast break points the Suns have scored in a game since March of 2017 when they had 53 in a loss to the Washington Wizards.

And with all that, the Suns have now lost 17 of their last 19 games. That’s including a buzzer-beater loss against the Spurs on Tuesday in which Booker played arguably his best game of the season.

What Booker had to say after the game in response to the last two losses says a lot about the franchise’s current state.

“You have to move on from it, just try to remain positive at all times, be an addition to the group the best I can,” he said. “And, hope you realize how important attention to detail is and coverage is and just the will to win.

“So we need to learn that. I always say, ‘You can’t get comfortable with losing.’ I think we’re comfortable with it right now.”

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