#devin-booker

#devin-booker

Celtics "We are playing from our experiences.From the heartbreak.From coming up short."The Celtics turned what was expected to be a national TV showdown between contenders into a blowout, demolishing the Suns 125-98 to improve to 21-5 and 3-0 on their current road trip.Here are the takeaways.

The NBA is nearly down to its elite eight of teams that will be competing for this year's championship, and every team still alive now has a somewhat realistic path to the Finals.The first round was eventful in both the predictable outcomes and a splash of upsets thought to be unrealistic at the end of the regular season, most notably the eighth-seeded Miami Heat knocking out the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference.

It's crazy to think that just two years after making a finals appearance, the Phoenix Suns are struggling to stay above .500and be a consistently competitive team in the West.Injuries to Devin Booker and Cam Johnson, who recently came back, have been devastating.Jae Crowder not playing a single minute has hurt as well.

The Phoenix Suns' reported decision to move on from their All-Star point guard Chris Paul sent shock waves around the NBA.It is still unclear whether the Point God will be waived or traded -a decision that needs to be made before Paul's guarantee date of June 28- but the news already created ample trade speculations.

With the Phoenix Suns' season over, the Washington Wizards might be in a decent position to conduct an offseason trade.Throughout the 2022-'23 season, veteran point guard Chris Paul has been showing signs of major decline.Sure, he averaged 13 points, eight assists, and one steal but he only played in 59 games.

Last offseason, the Washington Wizards made Bradley Beal the 6th highest-paid player in the league with a contract value of over $43 million per year.The only five players with a larger annual salary are Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and John Wall.It is no coincidence that it was also the Washington Wizards that signed Wall to his contract, which was one of the worst contracts in the league for the last few years.

Just when it looked like the Toronto Raptors were moving into the next phase of their head coaching search, the Phoenix Suns had to drop a late-night bombshell.Head coach Monty Williams, who won coach of the year just two seasons ago, has been let go by Phoenix.Just two years ago, Williams and Mike Budenholzer were coaching against one another in the NBA Finals.

O.G. Anunoby spent the 2022/23 NBA season at the front of everyone's minds.Whether you were the player he was defending, desperate to pass him or his teammates relying on his steady presence, or every GM in the league calling Masai Ujiri to see if he was available - Anunoby is finally the name everyone is bringing up.

Gary Payton II's imminent return could turn the Warriors back into a defensive juggernaut just in time for the playoff push.Can one player change an entire defense?In Payton's case, yes.We all know what GP is capable of on the defensive end, Draymond Green said on his podcast last February.Can plug GP right in, and he knows the system like the back of his hand.

Kevin Durant reportedly asked the Brooklyn Nets to trade him to the Phoenix Suns after the team dealt Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks.ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst reported Friday on Durant's request to Nets general manager Sean Marks:
"On Monday afternoon, Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman had asked for a meeting.

Nikola Jokic had a career high 53 points in the Denver Nuggets' 129-124 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals series.But all the postgame chatter was about him grabbing a ball away from the Suns owner Mat Ishbia in a scuffle at courtside and Ishbia's apparent flop at the ensuing contact.

On the night of Joel Embiid's MVP trophy ceremony, the Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum came out with a chip on his shoulder
In the 34-point blowout triumph over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics did not need Jayson Tatum.Their championship depth was on full display as six different Celtics finished in double figures to propel the green and white to a win on a night where Tatum simply did not have his best.

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images The Brooklyn Nets reportedly only engaged in trade talks with the Phoenix Suns before deciding to ship Kevin Durant to Phoenix late Wednesday night.Appearing Thursday on Get Up, ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst (h/t RealGM) said talks between the Nets and Suns focused on Durant were a "covert, one-team negotiation."

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images Kevin Durant's MCL sprain may wind up costing him the MVP in the final voting, but his absence is only serving to highlight his value to fans.The Brooklyn Nets dropped their fourth straight game without Durant on Thursday, losing a 117-112 game to the Phoenix Suns that was not as close as the final score.

The Miami Heat look to bounce back against the Phoenix Suns on Friday at 10:00 p.m. ET, which will be their fifth-and-final game of their five-game road trip, their longest of the season.The game will be nationally-televised on ESPN.The Heat are coming off arguably their worst loss of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

The Miami Heat got a pretty decent road win on New Year's Eve.With four quarters of exciting basketball capped off by a huge Tyler Herro buzzer-beater to end the fourth and win the game for the Heat, it was definitely something to build on for the remainder of this Miami Heat road trip.Speaking of "building on" things though, the Miami Heat have been a relatively successful bunch over the last several seasons, only coming up short in situations where it seemed as if not enough of his teammates stepped up to give Jimmy Butler consistent help when it mattered the most.

Entering the 2015 NBA Draft, the Miami Heat had their eyes set on a couple of different prospects.Though they would end up taking Justise Winslow with the 10th overall pick, that pick is now most infamously known as the one that saw them taking Winslow over Devin Booker, who would go to the Phoenix Suns just three picks later.

Nic Antaya/Getty Images The Brooklyn Nets reportedly aren't expected to trade wing Mikal Bridges prior to Thursday's NBA trade deadline at 3 p.m.According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, there has been a "wealth of interest" expressed in Bridges, but the Nets intend to keep him.Brooklyn reportedly acquired Bridges along with Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four unprotected first-round picks in a blockbuster trade late Wednesday night that sent Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren to the Phoenix Suns.

The Washington Wizards play the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night.Here's the preview!When: : Wednesday, December 28, 7 p.m. ET
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
How to watch: NBC Sports Washington
How to listen: The Team 980 AM, 106.7-2FM
Injuries: Wizards - Deni Avdija (Day-to-Day, Back).Suns - Devin Booker (Out, Groin), Landry Shamet (Out, Achilles), Cameron Payne (Out, Foot).

Both Phoenix and Toronto could use some positive vibes to carry over into 2023.It's the last game of 2022 for both teams and the second leg of a back to back for the Raptors.Toronto has lost eight of its last 10 games while the Suns have dropped four of five and took five straight L's earlier this month.

The participation of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in practice Friday wasn't a precursor to the injured stars' return, after all.It only continued the pause surrounding their eventual returns, the All-Star duo watching in street clothes from the bench while their Clippers teammates were overwhelmed in a 123-96 loss Saturday afternoon at Crypto.com

The Lakers fall to the Suns, 115-105, after yet another tremendous Devin Booker performance.He had 25 pointson the night before fouling out with just over a minute remaining, but the Suns didn't need that last minute from him to extend their winning streak over the Lakers to eight games.With LeBron James ruled out, Darvin Ham opted to go with the same starting five that's won the last three games.

The New York Knicks lost to the Phoenix Suns 116-95.The Suns took 16 more shots than the Knicks, which happens when you outrebound your opponent 60-39, including 22-10 on the offensive glass.The Knicks finished with 20 assists to just 10 turnovers, which is normally just swell as far as that ratio goes - only not when your opponent has 35 dimes and only a baker's dozen turnovers.

The Miami Heat are hitting the road, coming off a, 113-112, thriller of a win against the Phoenix Suns, as they head over the border to take on the Toronto Raptors.The Heat are looking to play spoilers this game, as they look to end the Raptors' home-winning streak.Here are a few things to watch for.

The Miami Heat got a great win over a Phoenix Suns team that, though a little banged up, still had all that it takes to beat any team on a given night.And that's just what they almost did in this instance to the Miami Heat in their own building.Getting out to a pretty even start, things would begin to unravel a bit for the Miami heat ball club in the second half.

The Miami Heat haven't gotten off to their hottest start, sitting at just 4-7 in the standings at the moment.Needing to figure out how to be their best selves every night or at least, the best version of themselves, they continue to tinker and tweak as they progress through the early part of the year.