NBA Power Rankings: Week 3 brings forth the load-management debate … again

Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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1. team. 66. . 6-3. Previous: . Phoenix Suns

Last week: Beat Philadelphia 114-109, lost to Miami 124-108, beat Brooklyn 138-112

This week: Tuesday vs. Lakers, Thursday vs. Atlanta

OK, so the Phoenix Suns keep winning games and it’s starting to get almost freaky. This is a franchise, after all, that hasn’t had a winning season since 2013-14 and hasn’t even topped the 25-win mark since 2014-15. But here are the Suns, beating the 76ers and blowing out the Nets to improve to 6-3 already.

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And Devin Booker seems well on his way to erasing the empty-stats, losing-team rep he’s carried around. He’s shooting a ridiculous 54.5 percent overall and 53.2 percent on 5.2 3-point attempts per game while also knocking down 92.9 percent at the line. Yes, it’s just nine games in, but a 50/50/90 would be something new.

Last week, Booker averaged 29.7 points, 5.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 33.3 minutes per game, hitting 67.4 percent overall and going 9-for-13 from deep. Included in that was a season-high 40 points on 15-of-19 shooting in the win over Philadelphia on Monday.

The Suns can complete an early four-game sweep of the Pacific Division on Tuesday with a win over the Lakers, having already taken down the Kings, Clippers and Warriors already this season.

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Phoenix at the top of the NBA Power Rankings. If you haven’t stocked up on non-perishable foods and bottled water, now might be a time to contemplate doing so.