![]() "You got a problem with that? Do something. "It's about letting our kids be great," he told the Boston media. ok I watched a 20 year old turn The Garden around & heard them chanting his name." Watson, for his part, expressed no remorse for his role in the controversy. Tyson Chandler, the Suns' then-16-year veteran center, defended Booker in a postgame tweet: "For everyone saying but it was with a L. The NBA soon would repost Dudley's picture on its official Instagram account, sparking a spirited exchange in the comments section between Boston journeyman Jae Crowder and Booker:Ĭrowder: " NEVER SEEN SO MANY GUYS HAPPY AFTER AN 'L'."Ĭrowder: " I WAS TALKING BOUT THEM DUDES AROUND YOU. Jared Dudley, the team's outspoken veteran, posted the image on his Twitter account, and it quickly went viral. The Phoenix players later commemorated the occasion by posing for a photo with Booker holding a sheet of paper with "70" on it-an ode to the infamous picture Chamberlain took after scoring 100 points in March 1962. I think that kind of bothered some people." "It was like they were UMBC or something after the game. "They did celebrate after the game like they won the NCAA tournament," Washburn said. Meanwhile, the Suns, reeling from another loss, finally found a reason to be excited. Washburn said he could feel Boston's disappointment. The Suns lost 130-120, but Booker's performance was at the forefront in the locker rooms. "So at the end of the year, you get on the board and you give them a chance to believe." "If you lose with a young team, you really want those losses to be less than seven," Watson said. He insisted he was just trying to "keep chipping the score"-a lesson he learned from Hubie Brown, whom he considers a mentor. The game was already decided, so what was Watson doing? Players and coaching staff shouted their disapproval from the bench. Then Watson, during the stoppages, would draw up plays for Booker. In the contest's final 45 seconds, the Suns began intentionally fouling and calling timeouts to stop the clock. During a pair of Booker free throws, Watson turned to his assistant, Nate Bjorkgren, and asked, "What are they cheering for?" "It was just Devin."īut Watson was unaware of the individual performance taking place. "Phoenix pretty much had no other option," Doug Haller, who covered the game for the Arizona Republic, said. Alex Len, the team's center, was the starting lineup's elder statesman, at 23 years old. His team boasted the youngest lineup in NBA-according to Elias Sports Bureau, the Suns' average age was just 21 years, 14 days. Booker was in his second season and just 20 years old. It just wasn't expected on this particular night and at this particular point in his career. Was it a legitimate 70 points or does the performance deserve an asterisk? Was it just an exceptional offensive night or was it the arrival of a budding young star?Īs those at the game tell it, Booker's 70-point effort was a moment worth celebrating. Booker became the youngest player in league history to reach that mark, but the game's outcome never hung in the balance. In the year since last March 24, many have debated the performance's legacy. ![]() David Thompson, at 23, scored 73 points with the Denver Nuggets in a two-point loss to the Detroit Pistons on April 9, 1978. It was just the fifth time in NBA history that a player scored 70 points or more in a losing effort. But unlike Bryant's outing, Booker's performance came in a loss. It was the most points scored by a NBA player since Bryant scored 81 on the Toronto Raptors in 2006. What transpired next on TD Garden's parquet floor would generate a leaguewide buzz that is still felt a year later: Booker dropped 70.
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