Paul Coro

azcentral sports

Suns guard Devin Booker’s 34-point game was no confidence-builder. His confidence is already there after an All-Rookie first-team season, time at All-Star weekend and summer duty with the USA Basketball select team.

Even scoring 19 third-quarter points in a crafty nine-minute stretch against Portland star guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum was simply the first time he felt in regular-season mode this month.

“My confidence is always like that, wherever I’m at and whoever I’m playing against,” Booker said. “Now I feel like I’ve earned that respect around the league. People understand what kind of caliber of player I am.

“Game respects game. People know who has game. Everybody in the NBA can play but there’s that next level that people understand.”

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That might have been what Booker was showing late in the third quarter when he held his hand up high in front of the Blazers’ bench after rising up for a jumper over McCollum. He ended the quarter with physical defense and a strip on McCollum. As teams headed for their benches at the break, Portland assistant Nate Tibbetts took exception to either Booker’s talk or physical play – or both – and exchanged words.

There was no disputing how well Booker played to score 34 before taking the fourth quarter off. He only needed one 3-pointer as he found mid-range pockets and driving chances to riddle the Blazers.

“He scored every way possible so you like everything that he did,” Watson said. “You can tell 19 years of age and his maturity and patience in the half-court and the way he can score is very unique. I’m not sure there’s a lot of people his age or a lot of people in the NBA who can do that.”