Coverage of the NBA Finals continues late on Thursday night with Game 2 between the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks. Join us live from 2am on Sky Sports Main Event & Arena
Wednesday 7 July 2021 13:37, UK
Devin Booker has stepped up to lead the Suns when needed during Phoenix's historic run this season – i.e. when Chris Paul has been unavailable or hampered by injury.
He's been not a bad backup, averaging 27.0 points per game in his first ever run in the postseason.
But there is no doubt that Chris Paul is the real leader of this brilliant Suns team. Now deep, deep into his future Naismith Hall of Fame career – season 16, in fact – Paul is playing on the biggest basketball stage of all for the very first time.
And in Game 1, after a scoreless first quarter he bounced back to score 32 points, and was just one pass away from a double-double, dishing out nine assists.
And Booker, along with many of the league's top stars, was buzzing for CP3 as he led the Suns to their commanding 118-105 victory in Phoenix on Tuesday night.
"Chris Paul, he's been a bucket, man," Booker said, after his team's win in the NBA Finals series opener. "I mean, he obviously gets his team involved; he's the greatest leader to play this game. But he's been a bucket for a very long time. And my six years of playing against him, or five years of playing against him, you understand that. There's no scouting report that says Chris Paul can't get a bucket."
And as head coach Monty Williams later explained, Paul's cerebral nature and understanding of the game means he can trust him to run the game in in any situation. Just as he did when he burned the Bucks constantly switching defense for 16 points on his own
"He's just a really good basketball player," Williams said. "He's one of those rare guys that can see the floor, and he knows where all five guys should be. He took advantage of his opportunities tonight versus their switching defense, and thankfully he made shots
"When it's going like that, you just want to space the floor well and let him orchestrate. I thought he was making the right plays. He was making shots, and when he's in that mode, we just feed off of that."
Game 2 takes place in Phoenix between the Suns and Milwaukee Bucks live from 2am on Sky Sports Main Event & Arena.
