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Suns' Devin Booker Gets Honest After Rough Performance vs Thunder

The Thunder completely shut down Devin Booker, holding the Suns star to just one field goal.

Oct 26, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (15) shoots against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

PHOENIX -- The Oklahoma City Thunder seem to have found the recipe to shut down Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker.

After Booker was the Suns' third-leading scorer in Oklahoma City's first-round sweep of Phoenix last season, the Thunder held Booker to only three points on 1-of-7 shooting in the teams' first meeting this year Monday night.

Phoenix fell to 1-2 with a 125-114 loss in the matchup, while the Thunder improved to 4-0 after losing Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace to serious injuries the night before.

"I just got to find better ways to be more aggressive," Booker said postgame (via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin).

"I think they did a pretty good job of keeping it out of my hands if I didn't have the ball in my hands. If I had the ball, obviously showing a lot of bodies, a lot of people."

This three-point performance from Booker came just one game after he scored 43 points, and his three points against OKC were his lowest in a full game he played since his rookie season 11 years ago (h/t Arizona Sports' Kellan Olson).

"Give them credit, that's what they do. They send you multiple bodies at different times of the game," Suns coach Jordan Ott said of Booker's performance (via Rankin). "Felt like there were three guys on him where he would pass it out, whether we got an opportunity right from that, or the pass, pass, which we talked a lot about, to try to put them in close outs.

"He even had to handle a lot against the zone. So I think it's a good lesson for us seeing some film on some defenses like that. Again, early in this season, and then the zone, we went with him as the playmaker that initiates the offense or in the middle of that zone a little bit of time. We'll take a look and fix it."

The Thunder's zone defense really seemed to bother the Suns and Booker all night long, and he couldn't find a rhythm offensively, although he did have seven assists.

"We've faced a 2-3 zone our entire lives. It's not complicated. You hit one or two shots, they'll be out of it, but you continue to slow down and we're not getting nothing out of it, they'll stay in it," Booker said.

Phoenix's offense has struggled to find any sort of consistency as a whole, and it looks like it's going to take some time for the Suns to gel together after adding Miles Bridges this offseason.

No matter what, Booker has to find ways to score and be the offensive engine for the Suns if they want to reach their full potential, especially against the top teams in the NBA.

"Just be more creative and finding spots where I get it, get the ball on time. Those small glimpses where I have a little bit of space in transition, the ball has to find me," Booker said.

The Suns have a few days to figure out how to get Booker and the rest of the offense going before they take on the Denver Nuggets at home Friday night.

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