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Devin Booker is not going to take things lying down. After LA Lakers forward Anthony Davis' comments before the game between the two teams on Sunday, the ace shooting guard of the Phoenix Suns quickly shot back.
Davis, who spoke to the media for the first time since spraining his foot in the contest against the Utah Jazz on February 16, told the media that his groin injury was the main reason the Lakers didn’t beat the Suns in the playoffs last year. Davis said:
“It was … We know that. They know that … They got away with one.”
Devin Booker did not take kindly to Anthony Davis' remarks. Speaking to the media shortly after the Suns blitzed past the Lakers with a dominant 140-111 win at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Booker thought Davis' comments were "funny". The three-time All-Star, who put up 30 points and 10 assists in the win for the Phoenix against the Lakers, said:
"Naah, that was going to happen anyways. I just think it's funny... It's all the ifs. If ifs was a 5th, we'd all be drunk. If my auntie had something between her legs, she'd be my uncle. It's a lot of ifs in this game. You look at history along the lines, there's something that comes up for every team during every season. Instead of just taking the high road, you have to make a comment like that."
Devin Booker averaged 29.7 ppg vs the LA Lakers even as Anthony Davis struggled in the first round of the 2021 Playoffs
The Phoenix Suns bested the LA Lakers in six games in the first round of the 2021 postseason. Devin Booker averaged a team-best 29.7 ppg in the series on 48.8% shooting from the field and 42.9% shooting from downtown. Booker also averaged 6.2 rpg and 5.0 apg even as the Suns overcame a 1-2 deficit to win the series 4-2.
That 1-2 deficit is perhaps at the core of Anthony Davis' remarks about the Suns getting "away with one". Davis picked up his groin injury in Game 4 when the Lakers were leading the series. With Davis playing only 19 minutes in that contest and just five-odd minutes in Game 6 while sitting out Game 5, the Suns took full advantage of Anthony Davis' absence and won three straight games to wrap-up the series.
Both players could get an opportunity to back-up their latest comments should they meet in this year's playoffs. The Lakers would have to make the play-in tournament for that and then avoid elimination over there to make it to the 2022 postseason. The Phoenix Suns, meanwhile, have clinched a playoff berth.
Guess the Lakers players!
