Devin Booker wasn’t worried about Giannis Antetokounmpo making a game-winning jump shot.
On Wednesday night, the Phoenix Suns clung to a one-point lead over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks with 2.8 seconds left in the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 47 points to lead the Bucks at that point, and both teams had struggled to stop their opponent all night.
So what was running through Devin Booker’s mind when Milwaukee’s inbounds play led to a mid-range jumper for Giannis’ potential game-winner?
“Uh…that we’re in good shape,” Book deadpanned.
Devin Booker wasn’t concerned about a Giannis Antetokounmpo game-winner
What an incredible amount of shade being thrown at the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP!
While Booker added in a follow-up question that the reason he felt they were in good shape was because the Suns had finally kept the Greek Freak out of the lane, where he had dominated Phoenix all night, this was a hilarious way to highlight what everyone in the league already knows: The key to beating Giannis is to force him to shoot jumpers.
While a free-throw line jumper is still risking it for any player in this league, it’s telling that Booker wasn’t concerned about him actually making the potential game-winner as long as he wasn’t around the basket.
“Any time you can stay in front of him and force him to take shots like that, you just have to live with it,” he said. “You can’t guard everything, and obviously he’s a force in that paint area and gave us trouble the whole night. But if we keep him out of there, and Deandre [Ayton] did a good job of cutting him off and forcing him into that, and we’ll live with the result.”
With the proper context, Booker’s answer makes a lot more sense and isn’t quite the zinger it sounds like on the surface. But considering it took a follow-up question for Book to expand on this golden response, we can’t ignore the slight bit of shade thrown Giannis’ way here either.
The Suns’ best win of the season helped them improve to 15-9, marking their fourth straight win and seven of their last eight. Booker finished with 30 points on 11-of-21 shooting, while Chris Paul chipped in 28 points and 7 assists.