Key bench contributions, usual Booker night give Suns win before break

PHOENIX — On a night where the full attention in Phoenix Suns land shifted to Devin Booker potentially getting the All-Star nod he so richly deserves, they also played a basketball game.

And they won it, 112-106, over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.

Booker had 27 points, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block. As usual, Booker needed to do most of the heavy lifting, but the Suns did get some nice contributions elsewhere.

“I’m just glad we won the game,” Williams said, a fitting answer given how the game not only ended but played out as a whole.

The Suns controlled it from the jump, leading 12-3 early. Even that soon in the game, though, Golden State quickly responded with a 10-0 run and continued to hang around despite fielding a very undermanned roster.

Phoenix was up 10 after the first quarter, eight at halftime and 11 after there quarters. With just over six minutes left, the Warriors cut it down to five, and that’s when any full fourth quarter rest for Booker went out the window.

Booker did his best to take advantage of heavy defensive coverage and the Suns on both ends did enough to beat the league’s worst team that turned the ball over 22 times.

“Devin does what Devin does,” Williams said of Booker’s performance.

Kelly Oubre Jr. was 5-for-16, consistently looking unsure of his plan off the dribble and taking a whole lot of jumpers, which included 10 three-pointers.

His 15 points, though, were the high mark beyond Booker. Fortunately, seven of the nine Suns players that attempted a three-pointer converted and the team shot 37.8% on ’em as a whole.

They got some key bench contributions too on both ends, which is how we get to Booker having the only positive plus-minus of the starters and being all the way at plus-17.

“I was really excited about Jonah’s impact on the team,” Williams said.

If you’re thinking, “Jonah? Who?” don’t feel dumb. Center Jonah Bolden, a former Philadelphia 76ers second-round pick, was signed by the team an hour before tip-off, with the news being reported earlier in the day.

He immediately got minutes due to the Suns still being down every big on the roster but Cheick Diallo due to injury, and Bolden was rewarded for his play by closing the game over the starter Diallo.

He had six points, seven rebounds, a steal and two blocks in 26 minutes.

“He played well. That’s an amazing job of getting the callup same day and you get actual minutes,” Booker said. “Congratulations to him for the callup and the opportunity and taking advantage of that. That’s not an easy task to come into live NBA action on your first day up.”

Williams also shouted out his bench backcourt duo of Elie Okobo and Jevon Carter that combined for 20 points, four rebounds, five assists and a steal.

“Elie was great tonight,” he said. “He and JC brought an energy and a dog to the game that we needed.”

On the Golden State side, it would be unfair to go without mentioning the great play of Marquese Chriss. The former top 10 pick by the Suns was the Warriors’ best player Wednesday night with 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

Booker is happy for his former teammate and sees a different person.

“Marquese is somebody that I’m proud of in signing his deal and job security,” he said. “You can tell on his face, man, he’s a lot happier in this situation and he’s been playing very, very well of late.”

Booker blocked Chriss late, who to be fair got Booker earlier in the night, and Booker made sure to be over the top and let Chriss know about it like any of us would if we got our friend like that.

Devin Booker WAS NOT HAVING IT!!! pic.twitter.com/P317dcNTyP

— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) February 13, 2020

The refs, shockingly, weren’t catching onto the friendly vibe there and gave Booker a technical foul.

“The refs didn’t understand I guess that’s why they called a tech but I’m trying to have fun out there, find happiness in this league,” Booker said with what I detect as a slight bit of sarcasm.

“I laughed at him, and it was warranted and I’m glad he did it,” Chriss said of his buddy. “It was funny to me.”

The Suns now enter the All-Star break and do so with their 22nd win of the season, eyeing a potential double-digit improvement over last year.

That, however, is not where everyone’s mind is at, as referenced at the top.

“I think it’s about time this organization had an All-Star,” Williams said. “It’s been a minute, but who better to represent us than Devin.”

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