Devin Booker named West’s Player of the Week

On March 28, the NBA named Phoenix Suns MVP candidate Devin Booker the Player of the Week in the West for the third time this season. Booker joins Karl-Anthony Towns, DeMar DeRozan, and Jayson Tatum as the only players to win the award three times this season.

The award accounts for games between March 21-27, which, for the Suns, includes three games: @ Minnesota, @ Denver, and vs Philadelphia.

• Suns were 3-0 with a point differential of +29 over the week, as Booker interjected himself further into the MVP race with another surge
• 37.3 points per game on 58.1% FG, 42.9% 3P, and 82.9% FT
• 6.3 assists to 2.3 turnovers
• 3.0 rebounds
• 1.3 steals

Booker said his extra motivation this past week stemmed from two key aspects: “It’s that time of the year, one, to gear up for these playoffs, and people have been playing with my name, man.”

That quote came after the 10-point road win over Denver in which Booker contributed a season-high 49 points (on 25 shots), 10 assists, 3 steals, and a block in his 39 minutes.

Look for Booker to continue this surge as the regular season closes and he starts preparing for the playoffs. Suns face multiple playoff teams in the West over their final seven games, and if I know one thing about Booker, he’s going to do everything in his power to win each one, even though the team’s place in the league-wide standings is locked up already.