Devin Booker on being surrounded by young players on Suns
Devin Booker, once a young phenom, is now a veteran surrounded by young players: “It’s a lot of jokes.”
Grayson Allen’s hot shooting reached such a Johnny Storm temperature, Phoenix Suns fans boiled over with “M-V-P, M-V-P” chants.
They later broke out “GRAY-SON AL-LEN” chants.
Yeah, he had it going like that Monday night.
Allen scored a career-high 42 points, hitting 10 shots from 3, in leading the Phoenix Suns to a convincing 121-98 victory on Nov. 10 over the New Orleans Pelicans before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at Mortgage Matchup Center. The 10 made 3s set a new career high and single-game franchise record.
“Probably the MVP. I don’t know how many times that’s going to happen.”
Grayson Allen when asked what he’ll remember the most about his career night in Suns 121-98 win.
1. Career-high 42 points.
2. Career-high 10 made 3s (Suns record)
3. MVP and Grayson Allen chants.
“That was… pic.twitter.com/mQZzn8ZreK
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 11, 2025
The Suns shot 19-of-43 on 3s compared to the Pelicans (2-8), going 10-of-32 from distance.
Winners of its last three games, Phoenix led by as many as 32 points in the second half.
The Suns (6-5) won without Jalen Green, who is sidelined with a right hamstring injury after reinjuring it in the first quarter of a Nov. 8 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood.
Phoenix is 5-1 in its last six games. Here are takeaways from the game ahead of the Suns facing the Dallas Mavericks on the road on Nov. 12 in the first of a back-to-back. They take on the Indiana Pacers the following day at home.
Allen 3-ball necessary in starting role
Today’s NBA is all about 3s and spacing. Very few create more of both than Allen.
Teams must respect him when he steps outside the 3-point line, thus creating room for Devin Booker and Jalen Green, when he returns, to score off the bounce.
Allen can also punish closeouts with drives to the basket or finding an open shooter. The latter is big because he has turned the ball over when looking to make the pass.
So even though Allen isn’t the caliber of defender Ryan Dunn is, his shooting, straight-line drives, and improved playmaking make him someone coach Jordan Ott must start, even when defense is a priority.
Plus, Allen competes on the defensive end. He can draw bad perimeter matchups and get beaten off the dribble, but Allen will battle.
3s fuel huge run in first half
The Suns have talked about trusting whoever is open off ball movement.
It helps when Royce O’Neale and Allen are the two players taking the 3s.
They came into Monday’s game leading the Suns in made 3s at 3.6 each. O’Neale and Allen each made four in the first half in helping Phoenix take a 64-41 halftime lead.
Suns 64 Pelicans 41 Half.
PHX: Grayson Allen 18 points, Devin Booker 15, Royce O’Neale 12.
Team; 11-of-24 from 3. Led by as many as 24 points.
NOLA: Jeremiah Fears and Karlo Matkovic 11 points each.
Team: 7-of-21. Led by as many as 4. #Suns #Pelicans pic.twitter.com/GAlG0z9JzQ
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 11, 2025
The Suns took control with a 22-5 surge in the second quarter in building a 54-30 lead with 6:04 left in the half. The Suns made five 3s in that run.
Allen and O’Neale each drilled two 3s. Two-way player Isaiah Livers contributed the other one.
O’Neale came into the game shooting a career-best 43.5% from 3 to lead the team in 3-point shooting while Allen stood fourth at 40.9%.
At halftime, O’Neale was 4-of-5 and Allen was 4-of-8.
And to think they both have had an illness and are still cooking from 3.
“I’ve seen it multiple times. Not only last year, but through the summer all the way back to graduation class of 2014.”
Devin Booker on Grayson Allen’s 42-point career night with 10 made 3s, also career high to set single-game franchise record for made 3s in Suns win over Pels.… pic.twitter.com/hEv0lMvkTs
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 11, 2025O’Neale and Allen deliver in different ways
Same production, but different ways of delivery.
O’Neale is more of a catch-and-shoot guy with a super quick release and plants his puppies close to the 3-point line. The four 3s he made in the first half were from an average distance of 25.75 feet.
Allen tends to shoot from further out.
His four made 3s in the first half were from an average distance of 26.5. He tends to take more from the wing or up top, while O’Neale works the corner 3s.
Suns guard Grayson Allen on Jalen Green hyping him during his career 42-point, 10 made 3s night: “I was talking Jalen the whole game and Jalen just, every time I came back to the bench, he was just amping me up. ‘Go for 40. Go for 50. Go to get 10, go get 11, go get 12 3s.’ A lot… pic.twitter.com/Tv69MNcCSM
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 11, 2025Suns defense part of early winning formula
Phoenix overwhelmed New Orleans with 3-point shooting led by Allen; a team doesn’t build a 32-point lead solely on offense.
The Suns forced 19 turnovers and scored 29 points off them, limiting New Orleans to 41% shooting (10-of-32 from 3).
To keep it 100, the Pelicans’ struggle is real. Coach Willie Green is on the hottest seat.
The Pelicans were losing even when Zion Williamson was healthy and dunking on Victor Wembanyama.
Through 10 games, the Pelicans are 27th in fast break points allowed and total points allowed, 28th in defensive rating and 29th in defensive rebounding.
So, this is a bad defensive team, but Phoenix made New Orleans look even worse.
The Pelicans weren’t expected to have a good season. NBA.com had New Orleans 14th in its offseason power rankings.
Pretty accurate. The Pelicans are last in the conference, but guess who was ranked right above them in those offseason power rankings?
The Suns. Thirteenth.
They are eighth in the West right now with the same record as Golden State at 6-5. The Warriors beat them in San Francisco.
Allen pressing pause on differences
The Suns are clearly playing above expectations and appear to be having fun.
Playing hard, physical, aggressive and cashing in from 3 is working.
It’s also leading to comparisons to last season’s team featuring Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal that crashed and burned to a 36-win season, no playoffs and a complete overhaul.
Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen on comparing last season to this season: “I want to be careful about comparing this team to last year because it’s so different. Last year, we had a great start to the year. Our energy was great. Everyone was having fun playing. Around this time… pic.twitter.com/5O245z792V
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 11, 2025
New head coach. New general manager. Durant traded. Beal’s contract buyout.
It’s all good now, but Allen reminded everyone that the Suns started 9-2 last season and had great vibes and chemistry. It clearly all fell apart, but these Suns are thriving at sharing the ball, playing fast and giving max effort for multiple trips over long stretches.
They have their defensive lulls. They miss shots. They turn it over, but they’re also staying afloat with Green having only played one full game.
Phoenix has its fans buzzing a little bit, but let’s see where they are through 20 games or so. The Suns have upcoming matchups against Minnesota, San Antonio, Houston, defending NBA champion Oklahoma City, Denver and the Los Angeles Lakers.
“There’s a lot of differences. Different players. Different coaching staff. It’s a whole new vibe. We’ve washed last season. It was tough on the whole city, but we feel rejuvenated.”
Devin Booker as Suns 5-1 in their last six games after 121-98 win over Pelicans. #Suns… pic.twitter.com/bU3ELcjb30
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 11, 2025
Green will likely miss those games if he’s out for a month after reinjuring his right hamstring.
The season is just getting started, but the Suns have the league’s attention a little bit.
Let’s see if that’s still the case by mid-December.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.