Almost exactly a year ago, ironically against this very same Knicks team, the conversation around Kevin Durant’s body language and moodiness hit a fever pitch here in the Valley.
The Suns were still a month away from getting their full team on the court together, and a collision with a Knicks player five minutes into that Dec. 15 game put Bradley Beal back on the injured list with a sprained ankle. The frustration mounted for Durant, who could be seen ripping into teammates on the court, playing angry at times.
Postgame after Jalen Brunson’s 50 piece dropped the Suns to 11-6 on the season, Durant was asked about Brunson’s breakout start to the year. Durant not-so-cryptically responded that Brunson was succeeding because the franchise had built a team that suited him, and empowered him to lead it. The message was clear: Durant didn’t feel that was happening in Phoenix.
That record-scratch moment wasn’t quite recreated Wednesday night at Footprint Center, but it felt pretty similar. Without Durant and Beal, the Suns were hapless. The defense allowed 44 points in the first quarter to New York, which ended up being the margin of the game. A few nice runs couldn’t overcome the early hole.
The rest of the game, Booker’s body language and moodiness became the story. If you’ve watched Booker throughout his career, you know how easy it is for him to become distracted by the officiating. He has a chip on his shoulder, one he sometimes channels into apex predator scoring masterpieces but often simply distracts him.
A particularly ugly example came midway through the second quarter, when Booker tried and failed to take advantage of a mismatch against the smaller Brunson. Booker drove along the baseline, felt contact, and chucked a shot, expecting a foul. WHen he didn’t get it, Booker meandered toward halfcourt while his teammates played 4-on-5 defense on the other end. By the time the action came back his way, Booker continued to check out. The Suns moved the ball until it found their best player again, who had slumped at the top of the arc. Rather than value the possession and overcome his visible frustration, Booker threw up a wild 3 that clanked out.
It’s one thing for Booker to slump as he did early in the season. We can look past games where the defense takes him out of rhythm because of how little scoring punch there is around him. But it helps nobody when Booker lets his emotions take over the way he did on Wednesday night.
Sure, Booker redeemed himself with a solid fourth quarter and a pristine box score stat line. But like with Durant a year ago, the mentality that Booker is displaying on the court is at best a distraction and at worst a detriment as the Suns look to get themselves out of a five-game losing streak.
