D’Angelo Russell and Devin Booker trade buckets in Brooklyn
Barclays Center bared witness to an absorbing anything you can do I can do better duel between two of the leagues brightest up and coming stars. The couplet of microwave scorers dropped 30 plus each as they put their full arsenal of buttery smooth moves on display.
At one point in the back and forth matchup, Devin Booker outmaneuvered the entire Nets team with a slippery behind the back crossover that left D’Angelo Russell on skates and freed the Suns guard for a perfectly timed floater over big man Timofey Mozgov. On the other end of the floor, Russell was zoned in and simply couldn’t be stopped from midrange as he dropped bucket after bucket with hands in his face.
The fireworks carried on until the final buzzer and when the game clock struck zero, the score read 122-114 with Phoenix taking the upper hand. On the back of T.J. Warren’s 14 point outburst in the final frame, The Suns miraculously overcame a 23-2 run by Brooklyn late in the fourth quarter.
With the dismissal of the disgruntled Eric Bledsoe pending an imminent trade from Phoenix, the doors have opened for Devin Booker to take charge and for 27-year-old rookie point guard Mike James to demonstrate his ability run an NBA offense. Though a short sample size, the two haven’t disappointed in their brief stints as featured options in the starting lineup.
While third-year combo guard D’Angelo Russell has blown his previous career high per game statistics out of the water, he’s left much to be desired on the leadership front. Russell has proved he can light up any team on any given night, but until he learns to consistently make his teammates better, the creative guard is destined to be defined by his inefficient volume scoring.
Phoenix and Brooklyn are a combined 6-9 on the year and their paths to the lottery already look to be clearly solidified just eight games into the new season. With that in mind, though their playoff hopes have dwindled from unlikely to grim, their young players will have plenty of time to work out their kinks and develop their talents without many consequences in a low pressure environment.
