What we learned: Devin Booker's 62 can't offset Suns poor defense in loss to Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS — Devin Booker faced an angry sellout crowd of 17,274 that turned its booing up a few notches after an incidental elbow landed in the groin area of Aaron Nesmith.

He seemed to feed off the jeers in scorching a season-high 62 points with 29 coming in the first quarter, but the Phoenix Suns left upset after falling, 133-131, Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The loss snapped Phoenix’s seven-game win streak.

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Booker missed a game-winning 3 at the buzzer as Nesmith appeared to make contact before the shot on the inbounds and on the 3, but Suns coach Frank Vogel wasn’t surprised.

He’s more like over it since the Suns didn’t get one foul call in the fourth on 26 shot attempts.

The Pacers (26-20) avenged last week’s loss in Phoenix as they once again were without injured All-Star starting point guard Tyrese Haliburton. They turned up the defensive pressure in coming back from a 17-point deficit in forcing 20 turnovers that led to 25 Indiana points

Combine that with Indiana getting 21 offensive rebounds, scoring a colossal 84 points in the paint and getting up 20 more shots than Phoenix, the Suns needed Booker’s 62.

The Pacers outscored the Suns, 28-17, in the fourth as Phoenix reverted to struggling to close.

Kevin Durant scored 20 points without any free throw attempts while Eric Gordon added 14 in his return after missing two games with a sore right wrist.

Pascal Siakam paced the Pacers with 31 points and Obi Toppin came off the bench to generate 23. Indiana outscored Phoenix, 51-24, in bench points.

Toppin gave Indiana the lead on a putback with 3.4 seconds left.

Here what’s we learned as Bradley Beal (nose) and Jusuf Nurkic (left thumb) suffered injuries in the third quarter. Beal returned from his in the fourth while Nurkic didn’t.

What happened?

The Pacers came into the game first in the NBA in points per game at 124.8.

This is what they do, but the manner in which they do it is what greatly led to the outcome.

Indiana is second in the league in pace behind Washington. They create that by bringing pressure and running the ball back down the court even after a miss.

Not to say they don’t care about defense, but the Pacers are 26th in defensive rating.

So even when Booker was going completely off scoring, the Pacers weren’t losing much sleep over it because they’re just going to run it back and try to get one back.

The Suns got caught up in that and it led to two things. Giving up offensive boards and turning the ball over. Indiana forced Phoenix to play faster than they wanted.

The Suns like tempo, but not so frenetic to where they can’t control it.

what we learned: devin booker's 62 can't offset suns poor defense in loss to pacers

Jan 26, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) shoots the ball while Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) and forward Kevin Durant (35) defend in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Even though the Suns went to that small ball lineup with Booker, Durant, Gordon, Allen and Durant that closed out Sacramento, the Pacers countered with Siakam and Toppin, two bigger, athletic guys.

The Suns had to check out on the boards and didn’t. Toppin’s game winner came after Indiana had two offensive rebounds on that possession.

Phoenix is still in a good place as far as how they’re playing, but when they go small, if the opponent has an athletic four and five who can hold their own on defense, the small lineup will be in trouble.

The Suns are too small for those type of lineups.

Devin Booker’s high-scoring night

No fouls in the fourth is weird, especially when Booker was looking to attack, but he did everything possible to get this one.

Those 29 points in the first quarter to set a career and franchise high for most points in a quarter was a complete carryover from the 46-point night at Dallas.

Then he just toughed out some buckets, but guess what else happened?

The Suns maybe went a little too much iso with Booker. Hard to go away from that with the way he was playing. He still shot 10-of-19 from the field in the second half, but 1-of-5 from 3.

That’s nitpicking, to be honest, because a team shouldn’t lose the game when scoring 131 points.

Phoenix lost this game on the defense end and it was a collective effort, but that shouldn’t take away from not only how Booker played Friday night, but his big scoring nights of late.

After the game, Booker said he wasn’t trying to make a statement for not being voted an All-Star, but it’d be a major surprise if he’s not back in Indianapolis for next month’s All-Star game as a four-time All-Star.

If he doesn’t make it, boo that.

Post-game injury situation: Beal (nose), Nurkic (thumb)

Jusuf Nurkic left the game in the third quarter with a left thumb injury. After the game, Nurkic said he jammed it three times in Friday’s game with the third one in defending Myles Turner.

He didn’t return to the game after coming out with 3:44 left in the third quarter, but said the x-rays were negative. Nurkic initially had it taped up with clear wrap when returning to bench, but he tore that off his hand.

Nurkic has yet to miss a game for any physical injuries. He was out for two after the passing of his uncle. The Suns could’ve used his size, but when teams go small, that takes him out of the game.

Maybe he can just wrap it up and play. Plus it’s on his non-shooting hand.

Beal went down from a Turner elbow playing defense on a drive and was left with a bloody nose. After being down for a few minutes, Beal left the game with a towel pressed to his face.

Surprisingly, Beal returned with 10:32 left in the game. He finished with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting, but he said he couldn’t breathe out of his nose when returning to the game from Turner’s hit.

Beal shot 0-for-5 in the fourth, going 0-for-2 from 3. He played the rest of the way after checking back into the game.

Having played in just 21 of Phoenix’s 45 games this season due to injuries, Beal said he was probably being stubborn to return to action. Booker joked with him that the only reason he returned from a broken nose in the 2021 Western Conference finals against the Clippers was because it was the playoffs.

While he probably shouldn’t have returned, Beal showed not only his commitment to the team, but his toughness.

More injury updates: Eric Gordon returns, Bol Bol ‘making progress’

Gordon made his return after missing two games with a sore right wrist in scoring 12 points in the first half on 4-of-4 shooting (2-of-2 from 3).

Wrist must be feeling better, but he only scored two points in the second half on 1-of-5 shooting, going 0-for-4 from 3.

Gordon said it has been bothering him in the five previous games he played. He shot a combined 3-of-15 in the last two games he played for nine total points (1-of-13 on 3s) before missing the next two.

Bol Bol remains out as he missed his seventh straight game with a right foot sprain. Vogel said the 7-footer is “making progress” as the Suns remain hopeful that he returns during their season-long, seven-game road trip.

Damion Lee (knee) remains out as he hasn’t played all season.

Up next: Florida back-to-back

The Suns are at Orlando on Sunday for the first of a back-to-back as they play Miami on Monday. The Magic and Heat both lost in Phoenix this season.

Orlando is 23-21 while Miami has lost five in a row to drop to 24-21.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What we learned: Devin Booker’s 62 can’t offset Suns poor defense in loss to Pacers

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