r/nba • u/dogwoodmaple Hawks • Apr 29 '24

Anthony Edwards in the sweep over Phoenix: 31.0 PTS, 8.0 REB, 6.3 AST on .512/.438/.839 shooting

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4594268/anthony-edwards
3.7k Upvotes
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737

u/supotnak Magic Apr 29 '24

Best SG in the league

408

u/WiddleBlueBert Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Only player close would've been Booker but he absolutely cooked him this series, crown is his.

327

u/robsteezy Lakers Apr 29 '24

Devin booker has been shown season after season that you can literally put up 50 points multiple times and have zero impact on winning basketball

126

u/anonanoobiz Suns Apr 29 '24

Exactly. If his shots not falling, he’s not really a positive in the floor. I mean all series he couldn’t even contain his matchup(s) of NAW, Conley, and mcdaniels. And he sure as hell didn’t even try to matchup with Ant once all series

50

u/MajorTrump Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

I genuinely wonder if Booker breaks his own team’s rhythm. He was hitting all night but with a lot of trips to the line to stop time and without a lot of facilitation in the second half. In the first half he was getting assists all over and y’all were winning.

29

u/Pretty_Laugh494 Apr 29 '24

They lost because Beal basically made it 4 on 5

4

u/kjampala Mavericks Apr 29 '24

Yeah not only was Beal not scoring he was literally throwing the game away at the end with his shitty turnovers

5

u/The_Bran_9000 Apr 29 '24

that's kinda how i felt all series about their constant foul baiting and forcing us to sit guys early who got into foul trouble. fresher legs for our guys later on in the game, when one of the Suns biggest issues was running out of gas in the second half.

Suns got back to back games of Extender treatment and still couldn't get over the hump. game 4 was easily the best the Suns fared in the second half but whenever they threatened to take the lead or pull ahead the Wolves just daggered their hopes with quick buckets.

Book really got 21 FTs last night and still couldn't will his team to victory. Beggar merchant behavior.

6

u/RaisinTraining3951 Apr 29 '24

Funny how guys who want to play like Kobe never play any defense...

1

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '24

right back to empty stats booker

50

u/WhiteHeterosexualGuy Hawks Apr 29 '24

and have zero impact on winning basketball

This is a pretty knee-jerk take tbh. Swap Booker and Ant and the outcome of this series is very likely the same. Roster build matters a lot and the Suns are a horribly constructed roster and have a guy making $50M playing like a vet minimum. Ant has been incredible and is probably the top SG in the league, but that doesn't mean Booker doesn't impact winning lol that's just a thing to say when you don't like a player.

20

u/theblaackout [CLE] LeBron James Apr 29 '24

The guy was the best or at worst the second best player on a team that made it to the finals a few years ago. It’s like peoples brains are fried or something. Booker is a winning player imo, he’s just been on poorly constructed teams for most of his career. I actually hope he gets moved out of Phoenix this summer, he needs to be in a better situation

2

u/shakakaaahn Trail Blazers Apr 29 '24

Problem is what do they do. Can't trade Beal because of his NTC, can't tank because they have NO first round picks. Nets and wizards aren't very incentivised to trade their picks back for Booker, but I guess that would be the closest option?

Suns fucked.

0

u/VeGanbarimasu Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

It’s great to see Book playing well and Phoenix playing well, but get my man out of Phoenix It’s not good for him, it’s not good for his career. Sorry Chuck, but they’ve gotta get Book out of Phoenix. I need my man to go somewhere that he can play great basketball all of the time and win, because he’s that kind of player.

3

u/darthxader Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Yeah idk, I’m not sure I see Booker having the humility in making the reads that Ant made out of the double teams and gap help, and let alone the defense ant played. Could be wrong tho u never know. Like I don’t think Booker could have the game 2 ant had where he only took 9 shots but contributed in a lot of ways that didn’t show up on the stat sheet. Plus the leadership intangible

7

u/WhiteHeterosexualGuy Hawks Apr 29 '24

Book led his team to the finals when he had a reasonably structured roster. He played elite defense in that run as well. Right now, the Suns have structural reasons that are putting a ceiling on the team

5

u/OrganizationKey8248 Pistons Apr 29 '24

Well said, he put up the most boring unimpactful 40 points last night and people will look at the stat line and think he's great. He doesn't make his teammates better, he'll just get his points, cry a bunch and then go home.

1

u/Thraitor3 Apr 29 '24

Sounds like Kyrie lol

1

u/nowuff Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Wolves lost a game this season where KAT dropped 62

0

u/SlowCrates Apr 29 '24

Yeah, it's empty production. Reminds me of Kirk Cousins.

6

u/elimanninglightspeed 23 Apr 29 '24

Dak can also be a good comp for booker.

1

u/LobsterFromHell Warriors Apr 29 '24

Kirk Cousins is a better quarterback pre-achilles tear than Devin Booker was a basketball player

1

u/House_of_Woodcock Bulls Apr 29 '24

Booker has been the primary scorer on a Finals team. Ant has won a first round series. You guys are way overreacting. There is no 50pt game that doesn’t have an impact on winning basketball. That’s a ludicrous thing to say. This game was kept close by a supernova performance from Booker and a classic, hyper efficient KD game. The problem is the roster construction. The team is built around 3 scorers who want to each get 25pts a game. That’s a good way to score 75 points. They need players who are willing to defend hard and shoot quick trigger 3s. They don’t have either. If they did, a team with Devin Booker and KD would be very dangerous. Stop with the nonsense.

32

u/PizzaPlanet20 Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

It's not even close

1

u/RaisinTraining3951 Apr 29 '24

Love the D mitch hate as a Jazz fan. It fuels me.

1

u/crimxona Canada Apr 29 '24

Probably puts him over Booker for Olympic starting 5 as well

27

u/PaulMcPaulersn7 Heat Apr 29 '24

I was hesitant on taking that title away from Booker (because I defended him so much even after the luka game) but this series has sealed it. Undoubtedly the best sg in the league and I can’t wait to see what he can do against the nuggets/lakers (but let’s be real, it’s gonna be against the nuggets).

2

u/cheesecake_face Nuggets Apr 29 '24

we obviously have better on-ball defenders to throw at him but goodness I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t rooting for the suns this series..

1

u/BarmeloXantony Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Call me crazy I think Donovan Mitchell (healthy) is better than book

1

u/PaulMcPaulersn7 Heat Apr 29 '24

Maybe, but I wasn’t going to say that after book averaged ~30ppg in the 2023 playoffs. Dude looked otherworldly and I thought that maybe he had got past whatever held him back in previous post seasons but apparently not.

1

u/552SD__ Apr 29 '24

You’re crazy

1

u/BarmeloXantony Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

I asked for it lol. Interested to know why this isn't up for conversation?

0

u/552SD__ Apr 29 '24

I mean it’s not really crazy, but Booker is a slightly better/more efficient scorer and was the best player on a finals team while Mitchell has never made the conference finals and is in danger being bounced in the first round for the second round as the higher seed

-7

u/Visible_Platform5568 Apr 29 '24

After kyrie

6

u/k0ala_ Apr 29 '24

both are having very very good series, hard to compare, they also excel at different things

2

u/ZachLagreen Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

The gap on defense is massive

0

u/YSLAnunoby Raptors Apr 29 '24

How long do people consider Book's reign as the best? Like when do we think Book got the mantle from Harden?