Devin Booker and Kevin Durant have only played 11 games together with the Phoenix Suns but have looked every bit like the duo they were expected to be. Their dominance showed in a recent stat published by ESPN.
According to the social media page ‘ESPN Stats and Info,' Booker and Durant are the first duo to score 25-plus points each in their first three games of a postseason since legendary players Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal did it with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2003.
Booker is averaging the most points by any player this postseason (36.3) and had 45 in the Suns' Game 3 win over the Clippers Thursday. Booker joined Charles Barkley as the only Suns to have at least five 40-point playoff games, though Booker has only done it in just over two playoff runs.
Booker also joined Barkley and Michael Jordan as the only players to have at least 105 points through the first three games of a playoff run on at least 60 percent shooting.
Durant is averaging 26.7 points per game. His usage rate is down, but he has seen extensive double- and triple-teams from Los Angeles that have forced him off his spots.
Still, Durant has scored at least 25 points in each game and had 28 in the Suns' 129-124 win over the Clippers Thursday.
Durant was traded to the Suns Feb. 8 for forwards Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, among other assets. A two-time NBA Finals MVP, Durant is still arguably the best player in the world and became the first player to shoot at least 55 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line in NBA history in the regular season.
Meanwhile, Booker is recognized as one of the NBA's best young players but may be approaching superstar consideration. He averaged 27.8 points per game in 53 regular-season games, the most by a Sun regardless of games played.
Booker has played arguably the best basketball of his eight-year career since Feb. 7, when he returned from a groin injury suffered on Christmas Day against the Denver Nuggets. He averaged 28.5 points over his last 24 games played in the regular season on 51.5 percent shooting with 5.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.