Paul Coro

The Arizona Republic

A mix of youth, wings and learning leads to birds taking flight.

It might be the same mix for the Suns to ascend now that they are starting the NBA's youngest wing pairing.

Rookie shooting guard Devin Booker, 19, and second-year small forward T.J. Warren, 22, are two of the NBA's youngest five starting wing players, along with 21-year-olds Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee and Gary Harris of Denver and 20-year-old Andrew Wiggins in Minnesota. Booker and Warren have the youngest combined age by more than four years over the next youngest duo, Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.

In a league where the average starting wing is 27 years old, Booker and Warren are learning fast with a nudge out of the Suns’ nest.

“Some of these guys are going to have to step up,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. “That’s a lot on them. They’ve stepped up.”

A season-ending knee injury to Eric Bledsoe and an ankle sprain for power forward Jon Leuer created the new look Thursday night at Oklahoma City, where P.J. Tucker moved to starting power forward as Booker and Warren made their fifth and fourth career starts, respectively.

It was the second time that Booker and Warren, the Suns’ most recent first-round picks, started together but it went far better than the first try in a 110-89 loss at Utah. The Suns lost a seventh consecutive game, the franchise's worst streak in three seasons, but they pushed Oklahoma City to the wire before losing 110-106 on the road.

Warren made 11 of 17 shots for a career-high 29 points and also recorded a career high for steals (four) while adding nine rebounds in 41 minutes. Booker, who did not play in a Denver loss 10 days ago, logged 39 minutes for a 12-point, five-assist, five-turnover game.

The Suns started the game with Warren covering Kevin Durant and Booker on Russell Westbrook. It did not always go well but it kept Brandon Knight out of foul trouble with Bledsoe and Ronnie Price out for injuries.

“We’ve got a bright future together,” Warren said. “We’ve just got to keep getting better and improve on our performance.”

Westbrook dominated with a 36-point, 12-assist game, but eight of his 12 field goals came on fast breaks, switches or while Booker was out or assigned elsewhere. Booker’s turnovers fed Thunder fast breaks, but the NBA's youngest player has been mostly cool on the big stage.

Suns' offense comes to life, but Thunder escape with win

“There’s a lot of rookies out there who don’t get a chance to play,” Booker said. “Just to know they believe in me, it gives me a lot of confidence.”

With 48.6 percent 3-point shooting, Booker would rank second in the NBA if he had enough made 3s to qualify. He has yet to make a 3 as a starter (0 for 5) but is getting to the rim in transition or with half-court drives and curls. He is 16 for 31 on two-point shots over the past four games.

“We can't keep saying, ‘Bled got hurt, Bled got hurt,’" Booker said. "He was a big part of our team. It’s just giving other people an opportunity to step up. We have to keep playing hard.”

Booker has won over his teammates, too. Thursday’s loss ended with Westbrook taunting Booker, who was lying on the floor after Westbrook blocked his layup try. Tucker came to Booker's defense, telling Westbrook to talk to him and not “my rook.”

Warren is almost like a rookie with 74 career appearances. His unique scoring ability has expanded with 42.6 percent 3-point shooting adding to the floaters, follows and finishes. He is having the best 74-game scoring start by a Sun since Amar’e Stoudemire. He has made two-thirds of his shots in 10 games with nine or more field-goal attempts. No NBA player has done that in his first 74 games since Yao Ming.

“I have a lot of confidence in myself,” Warren said. “I just want to take advantage of every opportunity I get, whether I’m starting or not starting. I want to play to my strengths and play the right way. This is my first real year playing so it’s still a learning experience for me. Every time I’m out there, I’m still figuring stuff out but I feel like I’m picking stuff up pretty quickly.”

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Booker and Warren are the sons of former college stars – Missouri’s Melvin Booker and North Carolina State’s Tony Warren. Booker had a brief NBA career that crossed paths with the rookie year of Kobe Bryant, whom Booker or Warren might defend Sunday in Los Angeles.

“This is kind of our young core,” Booker said. “We try to learn from the older guys as much as we can. It’s going to be good for us in the future.”

Reach Paul Coro at paul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him at twitter.com/paulcoro.

Saturday's game

Suns at Kings

When: 3 p.m.

Where: Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento.

TV/radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7).

Kings update: Sacramento (12-20) is on a three-game losing streak after losing at home Wednesday to Philadelphia, just as Phoenix had for the 76ers’ second win a week ago. The Kings allow a league-high 107.3 points per game and rank fourth in scoring (104.2 points per game) with the fastest pace of play in the NBA. DeMarcus Cousins ranks in the top 10 for points per game (24.1) and rebounds per game (10.3) but is shooting a career-worst 41.8 percent. The Kings went 1-7 in games that he missed in November. Rajon Rondo leads the NBA with 11.2 assists per game.