Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker scored 52 points and hit a career-high seven 3-pointers in Monday night’s 124-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
It was his third straight 50-point outing against the Pelicans. The four-time All-Star also recorded 52 points in a 123-109 victory at New Orleans on Jan. 19.
Booker joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to have three consecutive games with at least 50 points against a single opponent.
Devin Booker WENT OFF for 52 PTS (37 in the 1H) as he led the Suns to a W in New Orleans!
🔥 52 PTS, 9 AST
🔥 19/28 FGM
🔥 8 3PM (career-high) pic.twitter.com/I6NXF3J9Y6— NBA (@NBA) April 2, 2024
“Anytime you get named with Wilt, and it’s happened a few times in my career,” Booker said, “but you know you did something special.”
When the Suns faced New Orleans in Phoenix on Dec. 17, 2022, Booker finished with 58. The nine-year veteran has now scored 162 points in his past three games against the Pelicans.
That’s the most by an NBA player in a three-game span versus any opponent in the past 50 seasons. He surpassed the 158 points James Harden had against the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, according to Elias Sports.
Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker is shooting a career-best 49.6% from the field, 36.8% from 3-point range
It was also Booker’s fifth-highest scoring game of his career. Playing at Smoothie King Center has proven to be his comfort zone, especially with 40 family members and friends in attendance.
“I just feel like I’m playing the same way,” he said. “I mean, the crib is close. I have a lot of family in attendance. I grew up coming here. It’s the first NBA arena I went to. So there’s some history here.”
Suns coach Frank Vogel praised Booker for stepping up from beyond the arc.
“If there was space at the 3-point line, he was looking to rise up,” Vogel said. “If there was an avenue to the rim, he was ducking his head and getting to the rim and getting to the free throw line. So he was doing it in all ways.”
BOOK IT. pic.twitter.com/WmyQi5omvL
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) April 2, 2024
Booker now has eight 50-plus scoring games of his career. The 6-foot-6 guard also has the most 40-point games by a visiting player in New Orleans with five.
Through 61 games (all starts) this season, Booker is averaging 27.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, a career-high 6.9 assists, and 35.8 minutes per game while shooting a career-best 49.6% from the field and 36.8% from 3-point range.
Monday’s win put the Suns (44-31) within one game of the Pelicans (45-30) in the Western Conference standings as both teams fight to stay out of the play-in tournament.
New Orleans remains the No. 6 seed with Phoenix trailing by a single game. The teams meet again Sunday in Phoenix, but Monday’s win gave the Suns the tiebreaker in the season series.
