Devin Booker Obliterates Anthony Davis for Comments on Last Year’s Playoffs
Devin Booker has absolutely zero interest in engaging Anthony Davis’ hypotheticals when it comes to last season’s playoff showdown between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.
The 2021 first-round matchup between the two Western Conference heavyweights took a turn when Davis suffered an injury in Game 4, with the Lakers leading the series 2-1. Phoenix won Game 4, crushed the Davis-less Lakers in Game 5, and closed out the series in Game 6.
The Brow ascribes to the notion that his lack of health served as the deciding factor in the series. Booker does not want to hear any of that noise.
Anthony Davis believes his injury allowed the Suns to defeat the Lakers in the 2021 NBA Playoffs
Devin Booker and the Suns entered the 2021 NBA Playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the West. Phoenix proved itself a worthy and resilient group during its run to the Finals.
Davis doesn’t think that Finals run happens if he had been healthy.
The Lakers star addressed (h/t Dave McMenamin of ESPN) his untimely groin injury before Sunday’s game between LA and the Suns. He openly alluded to the Suns getting lucky, citing his setback as the main reason for Phoenix’s victory and suggesting the Lakers should have won the series.
“It was … We know that. They know that … They got away with one.”
–Anthony Davis on how his injury impact the Suns-Lakers playoff matchup in 2021
After Phoenix defended its home court with a win in Game 1, Davis exploded in Game 2 and Game 3.
The Brow had 34 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks in a two-way masterclass as the Lakers evened the series in Game 2. He then scored 34 more points in Game 3 as LA seized command.
However, AD left Game 4 with the groin issue. He did not suit up in Game 5 and played just over five minutes in Game 6, watching most of the closeout game in pain as the Suns took their first step toward a Finals berth.
Davis clearly still has regrets about how the series played out. Booker believes it’s sour grapes.
Devin Booker ripped Davis with a condescending response
After the Suns destroyed the Lakers 140-111 behind a double-double from Booker, the All-Star guard was asked whether he saw Anthony Davis’ pregame comments.
Indeed, Booker saw them. No, he doesn’t care. Not one bit.
The 25-year-old offered a condescending response (h/t Kellan Olson of Arizona Sports) to Davis’ comments. He said it’s pointless to look at hypotheticals because every team deals with inflection points at various times throughout the course of the season. Plus, you can’t change the past.
“If ‘ifs’ was a fifth, we’d all be drunk. … There’s a lot of if’s in this game. And you look at history along the lines, there’s something that comes up for every team during every season. Instead of just taking the high route and going, you have to make a comment like that.”
–Devin Booker, via Arizona Sports
Booker has a point. The Suns dealt with adversity during that series, too.
Chris Paul suffered a shoulder injury in Game 1, one that limited him pretty severely. If Paul is healthy, does Phoenix just run the Lakers into the ground?
Additionally, the Suns had already seized command of Game 4 before Davis left departed with his injury. Sure, AD’s absence in the next two games made a world of difference. But it’s not as though the Lakers were steamrolling toward a 3-1 series lead when The Brow went down.
Maybe Davis is just frustrated because he is injured again and the Lakers are struggling. In any case, Booker doesn’t need to look to the past. He’s solely focused on winning a championship.
The Suns are trudging along
At this point, Anthony Davis can only hope the Lakers keep a spot in the play-in tournament and have the chance to make a cinderella run. Meanwhile, Devin Booker and the Suns continue to roll.
Phoenix has a canyon-sized 7.5-game lead for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. It is still within striking distance of a franchise record for wins in a single season, which once seemed in danger when Booker entered health and safety protocols.
The Suns have the luxury of knowing they will almost certainly have home-court advantage throughout the 2022 NBA Playoffs, with CP3 eventually returning from injury. That should give Booker and Co. the chance to once and for all silence the idea that they got lucky in 2021.
Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.
