Devin Booker tops 50 for third game in row against Pelicans - ESPN

NEW ORLEANS — More than an hour after Monday's game ended, Devin Booker's night still wasn't done.

With more than 40 friends and family on hand from Booker's hometown of Moss Point, Mississippi, less than a two-hour drive from New Orleans, Booker stood near the baseline of the Smoothie King Center taking pictures.

The Phoenix Suns star was coming off another standout performance against the New Orleans Pelicans in a 124-111 victory.

With 52 points, Booker joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to have three consecutive games with at least 50 points against a single opponent.

«Anytime you get named with Wilt, and it's happened a few times in my career,» Booker said, «but you know you did something special.»

Booker also had 52 points in the teams' previous matchup Jan. 19 in New Orleans. When the teams squared off Dec. 17, 2022, in Phoenix, Booker had 58.

That gives Booker 162 points in his past three games against the Pelicans, the most for any player in a three-game span against any opponent in the past 50 seasons. He surpassed the 158 points James Harden had against the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Booker said he «doesn't really have an answer» for his success against New Orleans.

«I just feel like I'm playing the same way,» he said. «I mean, the crib is close. I have a lot of family in attendance. I grew up coming here. It's the first NBA arena I went to. So there's some history here.»

Booker started out hot with a 24-point first quarter and had 37 at halftime as the Suns built as much as a 26-point first-half lead. They upped the lead to 27 in the third quarter before the Pelicans tried to make a comeback.

New Orleans, led by 30 points from Zion Williamson,