Suns: Devin Booker keeping head up despite 0-2 series deficit vs. Nuggets

Despite being down 2-0 to the Nuggets, Devin Booker sent a message to his Suns teammates that they have to enjoy playoff basketball

The Phoenix Suns trail the Denver Nuggets 2-0 in the 2023 NBA playoffs. The all-world talent of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant has not been enough to raise the Suns' offense to the level it has to be in order to keep up with Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.

In Game 2, the Suns scored just 87 points and shot just 6-31 from deep. Booker didn't go the route of Giannis Antetokounmpo and try to spin a loss into something positive afterward. But he did send a message to his Suns teammates that, even as they sit just two losses from elimination, they have to enjoy hooping under the bright lights.

I asked Devin Booker what the Suns’ confidence level is heading back home down 0-2. After a pause, he said: “I love it. I just love playoff basketball. That’s the first thing I said when I got in the locker room: You just have to love this shit. Embrace it.” pic.twitter.com/3aSF277R6c

— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) May 2, 2023

“I love it. I just love playoff basketball. That’s the first thing I said when I got in the locker room: You just have to love this s**t. Embrace it,” Booker said after the Suns' Game 2 defeat. “There's not many people that get a chance to do what we're doing — playing the highest level of basketball. Compete at the highest level. Don't forget to have fun with it. Get after it every time we get a chance.”

Devin Booker is in the midst of a great playoff run but it's now in danger of ending prematurely. Across seven games, the Suns star is averaging 35.4 points and 6.6 assists per game while shooting 57.2 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from deep. Monty Williams has had to play him a ton of minutes to cover up the team's lack of depth and against the Nuggets, it hasn't worked well enough.

It's worthwhile for the Suns to heed Booker's message and enjoy the spotlight of playing in the second round of the 2023 NBA playoffs. Going down two games is a rough development but the series is far from over. While the Suns monitor Chris Paul's groin injury that forced him out of the game, they have to take advantage of these two upcoming games at Footprint Center.

The pressure to win in the playoffs is immense for the Suns after mortgaging their future. With Paul either hobbled or out, Booker and Durant have to turn the tides in the Suns' favor.