Devin Booker dropped 59 points Monday night, but it wasn’t enough for the Phoenix Suns, who fell 125-92 to the Utah Jazz.
The Jazz made sure to intentionally foul someone else with time running out in the fourth quarter, to keep Booker from reaching the 60-point mark.
Booker broke Karl Malone‘s arena scoring record of 51 points set on Dec. 9, 1995.
Per The Arizona Republic:
“Every time I lace up my shoes, I’m going out there to compete and win and try to lead my team to victory,” Booker said. “So whatever I have to do to do that. I had it rolling a little bit today. We kept playing through me, but my teammates were setting good screens, getting the ball on time.”
Those close to the Jazz bench say they overheard Utah coach Quin Snyder saying they weren’t going to let him score 60. [Jimmer] Fredette actually took a couple of shots late in the game at the urging of fans back in Utah where he starred at BYU.
“We wanted him to get 60,” Fredette said.
Booker set a Suns record for most 35-point games in a single season with 13.
“I’ve been saying on these 30-, 40-point games I’ve had that, I’ve left 50, 60 points on the table a lot,” Booker said. “Just made some shots today that I feel like I’m going to make moving forward. It’s been a tough season for me, shooting-wise behind the arc and I finally got some to fall tonight.”
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