Devin Booker nails game-winner against Mavs for Phoenix Suns

Devin Booker drilled a game-winning buzzer-beater to lift the Phoenix Suns over the Dallas Mavericks in their Saturday night matchup.

The Phoenix Suns are heading for another non-playoff season and a trip to the NBA Draft Lottery, but a previously miserable situation is starting to show signs of promise now that the franchise has fully surrendered to its youth movement.

With head coach Earl Watson benching veterans Tyson Chandler and Brandon Knight in favor of younger players like Alex Len, Alan Williams, Tyler Ulis and Derrick Jones Jr., the Suns have been one of the more entertaining teams to watch in the NBA since the All-Star break.

The shining star of Phoenix’s youth movement, however, has remained consistent: Devin Booker. Since the start of the season, the 20-year-old phenom has been in the starting lineup alongside Eric Bledsoe, and after a rough start to the year, he’s really found his groove as one of the franchise’s main pillars moving forward.

Not only is Book shooting above 40 percent from three-point range since the calendar flipped to 2017, but his defense has improved and he’s putting up star-caliber numbers, even for a losing Suns team.

Here’s the thing though: The Suns have actually been pretty decent since the trade deadline shipped P.J. Tucker away, and Devin Booker’s performance Saturday night against the Dallas Mavericks provides yet another reason for fans to be excited about this team’s long-term future.

Finishing the game with 36 points and five rebounds, Booker exploded for 25 second half points to take over on the road. He made 12 of his 20 shots and even supplied the game-winning buzzer-beater over Wesley Matthews with a beautiful reverse pivot jumper:

That shot was the Suns’ fourth buzzer-beater game-winner of the season. Before the 2016-17 campaign started, Phoenix only had three game-winning buzzer-beaters over the last 15 seasons combined.

This was Booker’s second game-winner of the season, with his first coming against the Sacramento Kings. Unlike that shot, which needed a little help from the bank to fall, this one was pure, prompting Booker to run off the floor as if to say it was time to get back on the plane and go home.

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It won’t be long before this 20-year-old baby-faced assassin is one of the NBA’s most beloved and despised crunch-time performers, and game-winners like this one are a pretty good indicator why.