ORLANDO (Florida) • The Phoenix Suns were the worst team in the Western Conference and the joint second-worst team in the National Basketball Association (NBA) last season, so few could have foreseen their improvement this year.
With the eighth and final seeds Memphis Grizzlies three games ahead, they remain an outside bet to secure post-season qualification for the first time since the 2009-10 season. But their form since the restart of the NBA last week has given them every chance to do the near unthinkable.
The Suns (29-39) extended their perfect start at Disney World on Tuesday, defeating championship contenders Los Angeles Clippers 117-115 for their third victory in as many games.
It was their marquee player, Devin Booker, who came to the fore again. The guard, in his fifth season with Phoenix, has improved year after year, earning his first All-Star nomination this season.
The Clippers, like so many other teams this term, struggled to contain the 23-year-old, who led all scorers with a 35-point effort that was capped by a buzzer-beating, turnaround jumper over fellow All-Star Paul George, with Most Valuable Player Kawhi Leonard in close attendance.
Led by Booker's six-of-nine three-point attempts, the Suns, who are the last unbeaten team since the NBA moved to the bubble, shot a blistering 53.1 per cent from beyond the arc.
Conversely, the Clippers (45-22), who were paced by 27 points from Leonard, shot a dismal eight-of-29 from long range, with none of their players making more than one three-pointer.
This was in sharp contrast to their franchise record of 25 three-pointers in the win over the New Orleans Pelicans last Saturday, but the Suns never gave them the same freedom of the court.
Since Booker's 2015-16 debut season, he now has three game-winning buzzer-beaters, the joint-most in the league, including the post-season, alongside LeBron James.
His poker face while lying on the court after draining the fadeaway sparked viral memes. Even Lakers star James chimed in, posting an Instagram story video, saying, "that boy too cold".
On the game-winner, Booker, who during the game also became the sixth-youngest player in NBA history to reach the 7,500 career-points milestone after James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, and Tracy McGrady, said: "I'm not a big celebration guy.
"They (my teammates) caught me on the ground so I couldn't get away from them. This is a fun team to be a part of and we're having fun with it. This whole experience... we just wanted to come down here and make some noise and that's what we're doing."
Phoenix have five regular-season games as they bid to extend their stay in the bubble and their coach Monty Williams later told reporters that Booker "would be the first one to tell you we're not done (here)".
In the other key game of the day, Damian Lillard paced Portland with 21 points as the Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets 110-102 to move within 11/2 games of the Grizzlies.
REUTERS
INDIANA V PHOENIX
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