The return of Devin Booker gives the Suns their third straight win

NEW YORK – An expression of relief and happiness emerged Devin Booker‘s face in the Phoenix Suns‘Locker room after a 116-112 win over the Brooklyn Networks at Tuesday evening.

After missing a month and a half during rehab from a groin injury he sustained during a Christmas night, he lost the loss Denver nuggetsBooker returned and scored 19 points in 26 minutes as the Suns won their third straight game.

“That’s all I want here, man,” Booker said. “Just competition to be back out there with the band, to feel that energy, to feel that presence. The team is just getting it going so I’m just fitting in in a way that wasn’t disruptive and trying to keep the flow that they have. “

Booker’s return gave the Suns an emotional boost and continued to build confidence for a group that has dealt with key player injuries throughout the season.

“Devin’s attitude is always that he just wants to eat,” said Suns coach Monty Williams. “Kill and eat. That’s how he works. And he’s a winner. And he wants to do whatever it takes to win the game. I thought the guys got a lot of energy from him tonight just because he was on the floor. Everyone are thrilled He’s back.”

Booker’s return almost faded into the background of Net’s guard as a sophomore Camera Thomas‘ running scoring. Thomas, 21, became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40 points in three straight games after scoring 43 points in Tuesday’s loss.

“It’s really surreal,” Thomas said. “I’m just happy to have my name in the history books, being so young. Of course I’d rather have the win because it sounds better when you have those 40-point games with the two of them [games] that we lost.

“But it’s just good to have my name in the story, I’ll just take it on… just be proud of all the hard work you’ve put in.”

Thomas wasn’t the only player to post career numbers on Tuesday. sun big man Deandre Ayton posted a career-high 35 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Like many in the Suns locker room, Ayton was excited to see Booker back on the floor but was also motivated by some outside noise about his own game.

“I see what people say about me,” Ayton said. “I had a bad start to the season. If it wasn’t an ankle injury, it was another illness or some crap that got in my way.

“And that’s more of a sort of adversity for me and shows what kind of player I really am and that I’m just going to stick with it and block out all the noise and the haters and all that stuff. I’m just getting back to the things I do best, and that’s just being dominant.”

With Booker back in the herd, the Suns are confident they can continue the wins as they head into the All-Star break and beyond.

“We’re happy, we’re not complaining,” says the Suns Guard ChrisPaul said to get Booker back. “We haven’t had a season where — we have a starter from last year who’s not even on the team [in Jae Crowder]. I was out, Devin was out, Cam Payne is out, Cam Johnson had surgery and came back. So we want to get everyone we can get on the pitch, especially Devin.”