BBNBA: Devin Booker's 47 points overpower Jamal Murray's 32

The BBNBA takeover of the 2023 NBA Playoffs continued on Friday night. Only three former Wildcats were in action between the night’s two games, but that trio combined to score 92 points. Ninety-two!!

Devin Booker was the star of the night, though, dropping in an insane 47 points on an even more impressive shooting clip of 20-25, including a 5-8 mark from deep. With his No. 4 Phoenix Suns down 2-0 to the No. 1 Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals, Booker needed to show out if the Suns were going to avoid the kiss of death — a 3-0 deficit.

47 points sure did the trick as the Suns locked up a 121-114 Game 3 win in Phoenix to make it a 2-1 series in favor of the Nuggets. Booker is averaging over 35 points per game during these playoffs, even drawing more attention than his future Hall-of-Fame teammate Kevin Durant, who added 39 points of his own in the victory.

“It’s all I know, this is all I dreamed of as a kid,” Booker said, per the NBA. “I’ve dedicated a lot of my life, moved away from my family when I was young, to pursue being in these moments.”

“They knew what we had to do to win this game,” Suns coach Monty Williams said, per the NBA, of Booker and Durant.

Booker added six rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and one block to his stat line in 41 minutes. Insane stuff, folks…

The Suns held a minor 90-88 lead entering the fourth quarter despite leading by 15 at the intermission. But an immediate 8-0 to begin the final period shut down any chance of a comeback attempt for the Nuggets. Former Wildcat Jamal Murray was in peak playoff form once again for the Nuggets, dropping 32 points, six rebounds, and five assists on 13-29 shooting in 41 minutes. He was complemented by a mind-blowing triple-double from MVP runner-up Nikola Jokic, who posted 30 points, 17 rebounds, and 17 assists in the loss.

But none of it was enough to overcome the Suns’ two superstars.

Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday in Phoenix with tipoff set for 8:00 p.m. EST on TNT.

Maxey, 76ers struggle from the floor in Game 3 loss

Also on Friday, in the game before DEN-PHX, the No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers and No. 2 Boston Celtics met in Philly for Game 3 with the series knotted 1-1. Despite 30 points and 13 rebounds from MVP Joel Embiid, who received his award ahead of tipoff and played in just his second game back after briefly sitting due to a knee sprain, the Sixers shot under 40 percent for the entire game and wound up falling 114-102.

Tyrese Maxey had another poor outing for Philadelphia, finishing with just 13 points for the second game in a row, this time on 4-16 shooting. Although he did chip in six rebounds, two assists, and two steals in his 40 minutes, Maxey (and the rest of his teammates, for that matter), couldn’t hit enough shots to take homecourt advantage. James Harden was just as bad for the 76ers, finishing with 16 points on 3-14 shooting, although he did dish out 11 dimes.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for 50 points as the Celtics take a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 set for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. EST on ESPN in Philly.

5/5/23 statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	+/-	MIN
Devin Booker (PHX)	121-114 W vs. DEN	47	20-25 (5-8)	6	9	3	1	3	7	41
Jamal Murray (DEN)	114-121 L @ PHX	32	13-29 (1-6)	6	5	1	1	2	5	41
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	102-114 L vs. BOS	13	4-16 (3-9)	6	2	0	2	0	-9	40

Today in the NBA

Eastern Conference Semifinals
3:30 (ABC): No. 5 Knicks (Quickley, Randle) @ No. 8 Heat (Adebayo, Herro: out)

Western Conference Semifinals
8:30 (ABC): No. 6 Warriors @ No. 7 Lakers (Davis, Gabriel, Vanderbilt)