Devin Booker’s on a roll, but ‘it’s about wins and losses’

Former University of Kentucky star Devin Booker followed up his 38-point game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday with another beauty on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Phoenix Suns guard scored 29 of his 39 points in the second half while setting a career high for the second straight game. He’s the youngest player in NBA history — at 20 years, seven days — to score 38 or more in consecutive games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

After missing nine of his 12 first-half shots, the 20-year-old heated up with a series of high-difficulty buckets while Phoenix trimmed the Lakers’ lead. But Los Angeles pulled away to win 119-108 and drop the Suns’ record to 2-5.

“Doesn’t matter,” Booker said of his big night. “It’s about wins and losses Maybe later in my career, I can look back on things like that but now I’m in the mindset where I am ready to get wins. Everybody looks good when you win and that’s what we are trying to do. Scoring as many points as you want and not making the playoffs is not a good look so my ultimate goal is to make the playoffs.”

Booker started the season slowly — averaging 15.3 points and shooting 39 percent in the first four games — while recovering from a sprained toe. He missed the team’s fifth game before heating up against the Pelicans and Lakers. He shot 51 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range during those two games.

His scoring average is up to 23.0 per game, which was tied for 12th in the league going into Monday’s games. He’s also averaging 3.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per contest.

This story was originally published November 7, 2016 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Devin Booker’s on a roll, but ‘it’s about wins and losses’."