PHOENIX — Devin Booker knows why a lot of people were at Mortgage Matchup Center on Sunday, and he did not want to give one single soul what they primarily came to see, or he at least reminded them what they should be there for every night.
Booker and his Phoenix Suns masterfully dissected the San Antonio Spurs’ hype machine led by Victor Wembanyama 130-118, handing San Antonio its first loss and showing what a shorthanded and less talented roster can still be capable of.
Many, many factors went into how the Suns (3-4) pulled this off. None get off the ground without Booker. He was 10-of-15 for 28 points with 13 assists and five turnovers.
This was a Point Book stroke of perfection. For those upset by the “make the right play” mantra, this is what it can look like when it gets rolling: Beautiful basketball. Booker assisted six of the Suns’ first nine baskets and had nine of his 13 in the opening two quarters.
“Some people don’t like that sometimes, say I’m overpassing, but then you see nights like tonight where you make the right play and we make the shots we’re supposed to that I believe in my team that they can make and I’ve seen them do multiple times,” Booker said.
Phoenix made 12 of its first 16 3-pointers, all thanks to what Booker was setting in motion. He entered the night with two of the top three leaguewide performances in “potential assists” and those shots finally started going down on Sunday.
“For him, he doesn’t get tired of it,” Grayson Allen said of Booker. “To start the year, we’ve had games where we didn’t come out and shoot it very well, and most of those shots are coming off his passes. And he sticks with it and keeps making the right play, keeps instilling confidence in the other guys around him. As the game goes on, that comes back around.”
“It’s the only thing I’ve known since I’ve been here.. … He’s just gonna make the right play,” Suns head coach Jodan Ott added on Booker. “I think we all feel good about his decision-making in those spots.”
Critically, Booker was finding his pockets to score within that structure. San Antonio’s Stephon Castle is an excellent defender at his age (21) and he was barbecue chicken, no matter how air-tight his on-ball prowess was.
Booker late in the game pointed at his head a few times after drawing repeated fouls on him, indicating he was in Castle’s. He was asked if that’s just a good young defender that has a bit more to learn. He responded with “yep” and a slight chuckle.
A reality the Spurs have accepted with Wembanyama is that he often has to play a deep drop behind ball screens due to limited mobility, even with all that alien-like agility at his freakish size. That is a coverage Booker will tear apart and he was having his way with it.
The backbone for all this was a fantastic teamwide defensive outing. Ott was asked about the positive steps within the last two games, and noted the jump defensively over that time. And again, he spotlighted Booker in being a key part of that.
Booker thinks the difference comes down to who he is guarding.
“I think it gets me going guarding someone that’s involved in a lot more actions on the other instead of playing help defense most of the game,” Booker said on a night he was once again marking a ball-handler as opposed to the off-ball shooter stars get stuck to by default most nights.
Phoenix just about flawlessly executed a unique gameplan to contain Wembanyama.
Wembanyama has reached superstar status, and the easiest way to tell that when it comes to on-the-court play is gameplans are no longer about “stopping him” but now instead “limiting him” as much as possible. He will many times make you feel hopeless like the others do regardless of how well you go at him, and if you don’t execute the controllables on your end, you’re in for a long evening.
With Wembanyama, that’s about not letting him get downhill as a ball-handler (because he will reach the rim from anywhere within his two legal steps) and preventing as many catches (including lobs) within a handful of feet from the basket. Defensively, the screeners have to be on-point to make him leave the paint (or leave lots of space open at the 3-point line), and when you go the paint, that’s where wise choices (as Ott put them pregame) have to be made by Suns ball-handlers when he’s lurking to deny any shot attempt or even pass.
Phoenix played the majority of the game with a wing defending Wembanyama, mostly Royce O’Neale, while switching everything. Its big would then stay in the weak-side corner, providing extra back-line cover in case Wembanyama got past the initial resistance. Every Suns player did a superb job of executing the gameplan to really employ a “anyone but him” type of defense.
Some of the switching:
Watch Ryan Dunn here
Spurs go slice for Wembanyama, Dunn adjusts positioning to take first hit on the switch & front
Dunn continues to fight with multiple efforts to the catch point, eventually stamping the stop pic.twitter.com/qAIvalU4jo
— Stephen PridGeon-Garner 🏁 (@StephenPG3) November 3, 2025
And here’s a more complete possession, with the cherry on top being Booker putting a body on Wembanyama for a rebound:
Suns hold Wembanyama scoreless in Q1
Different test than games prior, but you see the foundation sustaining
With Wemby & in their reserve units, guys are physical early, & they’ve been sharp on doubles — Hayes-Davis doubles to scram Goodwin out, rotations are on schedule https://t.co/8uKCORZEuf pic.twitter.com/rrs1YkFDsG
— Stephen PridGeon-Garner 🏁 (@StephenPG3) November 3, 2025
“A big level of it is your activity but also your discipline within that activity to be physical but not foul, be active and flying around but be in the right spots,” Allen described it as.
The first quarter was Wembanyama’s first out of a possible 21 this season in which he was held scoreless. With under two minutes to go, he was at a pair of shot attempts and none from the line. Like Booker, he was in “make the right play” mode and his teammates weren’t making enough 3s, all while Wembanyama wasn’t being aggressive enough in immediately hunting for his shot on the catch.
He was 4-of-14 for nine points with nine rebounds, two assists, a steal, four blocks and six turnovers.
Wembanyama picked up his fourth foul just 40 seconds into the second half, caused by a relentless off-ball Booker effort to pester him on a post entry. Booker was concerningly aloof on defense a week in but has snapped himself right back on track to the standard he will always be held to as a two-way player.
With this havoc, Phoenix was forcing turnovers for the second straight game and showing tremendous efficiency in capitalizing off them. It was 21 points off 14 Spurs turnovers.
So, we’ve got a superstar in Booker playing at that level, shots falling and a defense on a string. That is your recipe to a win this decisive and surprising.
The Suns’ lead was as high as 31, avoiding any slippage just about all game until a 12-0 Spurs run in the mid-fourth quarter cut it to 14 to briefly make things interesting.
That was when Booker got those fouls on Castle, calming the game back down. He then got to the line for two free tosses and then set up a Ryan Dunn 3 to put Phoenix back up 19. San Antonio shortly after pulled the Gregg Popovich special, deploying the end of the bench when it could have had one more chase at the result.
Dunn was terrific, intricately involved in what was planned for the offense and defense. The rotations he made defensively and plays he made offensively (screening and spacing when getting defended by a big) were huge. He played 30 minutes and contributed 17 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal. Dunn had a few bad games last week but still didn’t lose any trust with his head coach, an outstanding sign for what Phoenix has to achieve this season.
The 3-point total ended at 19-for-33 (57.6%). Allen knocked down five of his nine and finished with 17 points, three rebounds and three assists. His strong start to the season continues.
Castle’s 26 points (10-for-16), seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, a block and two turnovers were still a tremendous effort. He and Dylan Harper tried to keep San Antonio off its back foot, but Harper left in the second quarter due to a left calf injury and didn’t return after scoring 12 points in 11 minutes.
Jalen Green (right hamstring strain) and Dillon Brooks (core muscle strain) remained out for the Suns. Green has now played in 5-on-5 and was out warming up pregame, two good signs that make you feel safe saying he’s close. Brooks isn’t there yet, although Ott pregame described it as a good update to have him working out.
Green has now sat for all seven games in the regular season while it’s now four straight for Brooks.