#Devin Booker’s NBA bubble explosion may not be enough for undefeated Suns

After his second straight 35-point performance in Tuesday’s 130-117 win over the 76ers, Booker and the Suns are one win away from being the only team to finish the NBA’s seeding games undefeated. Tuesday’s victory lifted Phoenix to 7-0 since arriving in the Orlando bubble.

However, the Suns’ success since the restart may still not be enough. To clinch a spot in the play-in game, Phoenix needs to win Thursday and have a loss by the Grizzlies or the Trail Blazers in their last games.

“That’s life, man,” Booker told reporters when asked about the possibility of 8-0 not being good enough. “We’re controlling what we can control. That’s the eight games that we play in. So I’m proud of my guys regardless. We came in here with the right mindset, and it could have been different. People could have been frustrated, coming off of a four-month hiatus to straight to basketball and leaving your family.

“But we came in, we locked in, and made the sacrifices that we need to make, so I don’t think there’s going to be any sad faces around here, whether we leave here in the playoffs or not. We’ve put the work in and we’ve grown as a team. We’ve took tremendous strides that I think will build for us for continuing years to come.”

Before the coronavirus pandemic suspended the 2019-20 season, Booker — who this week got flirty with Kendall Jenner on Instagram — was averaging 26.1 points per game. Since the restart, he’s averaged 31 points. At just 23 years old, he’s already broken the franchise record for 30-point games with 91.

The most notable and newest addition to his resume was a game-winning jump shot over both Clippers stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. It was a turnaround fade-away jumper that landed Booker on his back. A photo of Booker’s reaction from the floor even went viral.

“These are the games I’ve been waiting to be in and play in,” Booker said after Tuesday’s win, in which he also pulled down nine rebounds and dished seven assists. “I know it’s a different format than what it’d be usually, but we control the energy, we can feel the hype for the game and I’m looking forward to it.”