National Basketball Association

After Game 3 benching, spotlight on Suns star Devin Booker and his coach for Game 4

Updated Jul. 29, 2021 9:42 p.m. ET

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There was a conspicuous absence during the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

With his Phoenix Suns floundering against the Milwaukee Bucks, Devin Booker exited the game with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter. 

Phoenix was down 93-76 at that point, but Booker would not reenter the contest, which Milwaukee went on to win 120-100.

It was an off night for Booker, to be sure.

He finished the game with 10 points on 3-for-14 shooting from the field (21.4%) and went 1-for-7 (14.3%) from distance in his 29:07 of playing time.

To really elucidate his struggles, Booker was averaging a near-automatic 92.0% in the playoffs from the free-throw line heading into Game 3, but went 3-for-5 (60%) in Sunday's loss to Milwaukee.

It was a struggle from the start for Booker. He went 2-for-11 for seven points in the first half. 

Coming out of the break, ESPN's Malika Andrews asked Monty Williams if he had any words for Booker, but the Suns head coach said he expected his 24-year-old star to self-evaluate and right the ship.

That, obviously, didn't quite go according to plan, as Booker played fewer than 10 minutes and scored just three points in the second half.

After the game, Williams took a similar tack when asked about Booker's struggles and how the Bucks were able to stymie the shooting guard.

"Their aggression, their defense, they keyed on him, he missed some shots," Williams said. "So, that’s going to happen. He’s been in this situation before … When you get to the Finals, it means you’ve been in a number of situations. So, this is nothing new to us anymore. He’ll bounce back." 

But did Williams make a mistake keeping Booker on the bench for the entire fourth quarter?

Skip Bayless offered his thoughts on "Undisputed" Monday, saying the Suns coach made a poor choice.

"I am a big Monty Williams fan," Bayless said. "… [But] I just thought Monty made a bad choice last night. It was the first time I saw him, on a big stage, try to assert himself as the head coach. … Shooters shoot. Shooters need to see balls go through baskets. ... If you'd started him in the fourth quarter and just see where it goes, maybe he'd make a couple of shots that would make him feel a little better about Game 4."

Skip Bayless: Monty Williams made a bad choice benching Devin Booker, the pressure is now on in Game 4 ' UNDISPUTED

Hear what Skip Bayless has to say about Monty Williams' decision to bench Devin Booker.

Bayless said he also believes that while Williams might have thought he was protecting Booker, the Suns coach has actually put him under increased pressure.

Now, the spotlight in the leadup to and during Game 4 will be that much brighter on Booker, Bayless argued. 

But Shannon Sharpe didn't take issue with Williams' decision, saying the game was out of reach and it made sense to find extra rest for Booker.

Booker has accrued the fourth-most minutes of any player this postseason with 762 minutes played, which is tops on the Suns. 

He also has some health concerns, having broken his nose in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the LA Clippers.

As Brandon Marshall pointed out on "First Things First," that injury could be contributing to Booker's struggles.

So, how does Booker tend to respond to this type of adversity? 

Earlier in the postseason, he scored 15 points (a career-low for the playoffs at the time) against the Clippers in Game 3 of that series. He shot 5-for-21 from the field and 1-for-7 for distance in that game, his first since breaking his nose, in a 14-point loss for Phoenix.

In the next game, he amassed 25 points in an 84-80 Suns win. He didn't shoot exceptionally well, going 8-for-22 from the field and 0-for-5 from 3, but he made a concerted effort to get to the free-throw line, taking 11 foul shots and making nine of them.

It's not an identical comparison for how Game 3 against the Bucks went, but there are similarities with Game 3 against the Clippers.

Will that be the same story in Game 4? Wednesday night holds the answer.

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National Basketball Association

Devin Booker

Phoenix Suns

Brandon Marshall

Skip Bayless

Shannon Sharpe

First Things First

Skip and Shannon: Undisputed