'Go Lakers': Devin Booker rooting for rival to help Phoenix Suns avoid play-in

SACRAMENTO – That Devin Booker done started something.

The Phoenix Suns All-Star guard was asked after Friday’s comeback win at Sacramento about the Western Conference playoffs, in which they can still land the sixth seed and avoid the play-in tournament.

He started his answer by uttering the one team Suns fans can’t stand.

“Go Lakers,” Booker said with a follow-up smile.

The Suns (48-33) need to win Sunday at Minnesota (56-25) and have the Lakers defeat the Pelicans (49-32) in New Orleans to capture the sixth seed. Phoenix, currently at seventh and a game behind the Pelicans in the standings, has the head-to-head tiebreaker over New Orleans.

“Nah, we’ve been saying for the past month or a couple of weeks, it’s so many possibilities and different things that can happen that you kind of have to lock into your team,” Booker continued. “You’ll drive yourself crazy watching other games and wishing and hoping. So either way, you’re going to have to matchup against somebody and we have to be ready to do that."

The Suns are coming off a wild 108-107 comeback win at Sacramento as they closed the game on a 9-2 run with Jusuf Nurkic hitting the game-winning free throws with 8.7 seconds left and Bradley Beal stripping Kings guard De'Aaron Fox on the game's final play.

"Finding any way to win," Booker said. "Try not to live in the past of a previous game or a previous play. Have next play mindset."

The Suns are 2-0 against the Timberwolves this season. Drew Eubanks is listed as questionable for Phoenix with right ankle soreness while Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) and Anthony Edwards (illness) are also listed as questionable. Towns just returned from a left meniscus tear in Minnesota's win Friday over Atlanta after missing 18 games.

"It's going to be a big-time game," Suns forward Royce O'Neale said. "Both teams are playing for something. They trying to get the top seed. It's going to be a real exciting game."

The Lakers (46-35) moved up to eighth in the West by beating the Grizzlies and Phoenix topping the Kings (45-36). Now they’re in position to stay in that slot with a win over the Pelicans and avoid having to win two games in the play-in to make the playoffs as an eighth seed.

The Lakers won the season series over the Pelicans, 2-1. LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (eye) are listed as probable while Brandon Ingram (knee) and Naji Marshall (shoulder) are listed as questionable. The Lakers, Kings and Warriors (45-36) could finish as high as eighth or as low as 10th.

The No. 7 hosts No. 8 seed in the play-in for the seventh playoff seed, while the loser plays host to the 9-10 winner for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Suns can finish no worse than seventh in the West, but avoid the play-in if they finish sixth. The 7-8 play-in game is scheduled for Tuesday.

The top three teams in the West – Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Denver – are still in the running for the No. 1 seed as all three teams have the same record. It’s the first time in NBA history in which three teams all have the same record with one game remaining in the regular season and can take the No. 1 seed in their conference.

The Clippers and Mavericks are the only two Western Conference teams locked into their positions at fourth and fifth, respectively.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Booker roots for rival Lakers to help Suns land 6th seed, skip play-in