Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 7

Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.

Week 7: 28 November - 4 December 2022

Week Record: 3-1

Overall Record: 16-7. 1st in the Western Conference.

Games Played and Results:

W - 122 - 117 Vs Sacramento Kings

W - 132 - 113 Vs Chicago Bulls

L - 121 - 122 Vs Houston Rockets

W - 133 - 95 Vs San Antonio Spurs

Booker, Booker, Booker. He was an absolute monster this past week. Of course the highlight was his 51 point performance in just 3 quarters against the Bulls, but his efficiency was just bonkers.

There's more on his historical week below, but overall, apart from that blip Vs the Rockets, it's been a great week to be a Suns fan.

Ayton also continued his strong play this week, highlighted by a 30-point, 14 rebound effort against the Bulls, meaning our 2 stars combined for 81 in that game. He also led the team in scoring against the Spurs with 25 and 10, supported by 20 a-piece from Book and Mikal. I was hugely happy to see Dario have a season high 17 points, looking much more like our boy from 2 seasons ago.

Not a lot more to add for this week, just great Suns basketball, that I hope you all enjoyed!

Superstar Watch (Season stats):

Booker - 29.1 Points, 5.0 Rebounds, 6.0 Assists, 1.0 Steal, 49.3 FG%, 38.9 3PT FG% & 2.6 Turnovers

Deandre Ayton - 17.2 Points, 9.7 Rebounds, 2.2 Assists, 0.5 Steals, 0.8 Blocks, 61.4 FG%, 30.8 3PT FG% & 2.0 Turnovers

Chris Paul - 9.5 Points, 4.5 Rebounds, 9.4 Assists, 1.7 Steals, 36.8 FG%, 27.3 3PT FG% & 1.5 Turnovers

Scorching Suns:

Devin Booker

Who else could it be, with a 44 point game followed by a season high 51 points, in only 3 quarters? His efficiency has been fantastic, following a couple of weeks struggling from the field, as well. Demonstrated by his historic run of 3 +45-point games in a row, shooting over 66.7%.

His stats for the week:

39.0 Points, 4.0 Rebounds, 6.5 Assists, 1.8 Steals, 62.8 FG% & 54.5 3PT FG%

Deandre Ayton

His stats for the week:

20.0 Points, 10.5 Rebounds, 2.3 Assists, 0.8 Blocks, 68.8 FG% & 50.0 3PT FG%

Struggling Suns:

I don't think anyone was particularly bad this week, so no entry here 😀

Stat Line(s) of the Week:

Devin Booker vs Chicago Bulls

Game stat line:

51 Points, 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steal, 20/25 FGs (80.0%) & 6/7 3PT FGs (85.7%).

Devin Booker Vs Sacramento Kings

Game stat line:

44 Points, 8 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 6 Steals, 17/28 FGs (60.7%) & 1/6 3PT FGs (16.7%) - Ignore the 3-point shooting!

Honourable mentions:

Deandre Ayton vs Chicago Bulls

Game stat line:

30 Points, 14 Rebounds, 2 Blocks & 11/17 FGs (64.7%).

Upcoming Games:

We have 4 games this week, all on the road apart from Wednesday vs Boston.

Facing Luka and the Mavs on the second night of a back-to-back isn't nice, but I think we still have a chip on our shoulder for this team, following the Playoffs. No one is ever going to stop Luka, but they haven't shown much to prove that they're an elite team in the West.

Following their run to the Finals the Celtics are on a massive roll this year and Jayson Tatum is a legit MVP candidate, averaging over 30 points and nearly 8 rebounds. He's supported as always by Jaylen Brown, who's hitting 26 per game and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart. This game will be our toughest of the season so far.

We then have 2 games in a row in New Orleans. In our first match-up earlier this season, the Pelicans were missing Ingram, Zion and Herb Jones, so we'll be facing a completely different foe this time round. Zion is playing brilliantly and I'm not sure we have anyone that can slow him down, so let's hope the coaching staff have a good overall team strategy to keep him out of the lane.

Predictions:

I always find it hard to come up with predictions when we face the same team 2 games in a row, because adjustments can be made by either side, just like the Playoffs. I could easily see each team taking one game apiece, but which way round?

I'm confident we will get the W against the Mavs and unfortunately feel we'll take an L against Boston. I'm going to say we win the first Pels game, but lose the second - annoyingly the early start one.

Predictions League:

Any Other Business:

Player of the Month

Booker's hot start to the season allowed him to capture the NBA's Western Conference Player of the Month award for October/November.

Awesome achievement, as he's led us to the best record in the West so far 🫡

Book Making History

Book's 51-point performance against the Bulls was the 1st time in NBA history that a player had +50 points, while shooting +80% from the field and +85% from 3.

He's also only the 8th player to score 50+ points in 30 minutes or less during the shot clock era.

40 Points - Book's three +40 point games this week were his 20th, 21st and 23rd of his career. He is the Suns all-time leader in this area, with 2nd place belonging to.....? Let me know who you think it is.

Hint - 2nd place has 15 40-point games.

50 Points -Book's 51 against the Bulls was the 4th 50-point game of his career. The Suns franchise has 10 in total - thanks @scooperhoops for that stat.

I won't repeat it, but did you see that Wilt X Book stat in my Scorching Suns section?!

Through our first 20 games (up to Monday's Kings game) Book has scored 558 points. That's is the most points in Suns history through their first 20 games.

Deandre "Double-Double" Ayton

Up to the Rockets game, which ended the streak, DA had a career high streak of 7 straight games with a double-double.

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