Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson was completely unapologetic of his late-game tactics, making use of fouls and timeouts to help his heralded shooting guard Devin Booker reach the 70-point mark in a 130-120 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday.
Booker was having a regular day at the office with a 19-point first half, but started to heat up with 23 in the third, only to put up 28 in the fourth frame thanks to his coach's frowned-upon game management.
The man at the helm showed a complete disregard for being politically correct, saying him and his team don't walk into arenas trying to be liked.
“It’s about letting our kids be great,” Watson told ESPN's Chris Forsberg following the loss. “You got a problem with that? Do something. Simple as that.”
Booker recognized that some of his opponents were upset at the tactic, but it didn't keep him from morphing into full human torch mode in the last two minutes of the game.
“We were trying to run up my points,” Booker told reporters.
The 20-year-old seemed to be aware of it all while it happened, but still maintained that he would've rather been on the winning end of the situation.
Booker: "I heard Brad Stevens yell 1 time: ‘He has 47 points!’ And I was like, ‘Coach we’re losing, I’d rather be winning right now with 10"
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) March 25, 2017
Jaylen brown congratulated Booker. Booker: "I told him you're here in Boston. You're winning, so you should be more happy than me."
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) March 25, 2017
Booker's 70-point effort will go down in history as one of the most tantalizing performances by any NBA player, an outing that definitely speaks for itself when it comes to the promise in this young player.
Follow Us
Subscribe