Devin Booker gave the Suns exactly the kind of jolt they were looking for Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, then briefly sent a scare through Phoenix when he left the game after a hard-looking sequence at the rim.
Booker had already piled up 33 points and was the engine of the Suns’ offense before the injury concern. The play in question came on a fast break, when Robert Williams III challenged the shot and blocked it. The contact made it appear Booker may have been struck in the face, though there wasn’t a clear angle to show exactly what happened.
Before that moment, Booker was rolling. He scored 12 points in the opening quarter alone and set the tone for what turned into a strong scoring night.
His shot-making stood out, but so did the way he kept getting to the free-throw line. Portland never really found a clean answer for him as he attacked, forced defenders into tough spots and kept working into his preferred areas.
The timing of the scare mattered, too, because Booker had accounted for nearly half of Phoenix’s points before leaving. For a team trying to shake off recent struggles, that was a heavy hit in real time. The relief came quickly, though, when he returned to the game.
Even with Booker back, Phoenix still needed production from elsewhere to avoid a repeat of the season opener. Miles Bridges and Jalen Green answered by taking turns as the Suns’ primary scoring threat.
Whether the Booker moment turns out to be something more than incidental remains to be seen, especially with Phoenix back on the floor Thursday against the Orlando Magic in the second game of a back-to-back.
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