The 16-year veteran finished Sunday’s action with 16 assist to become the all-time All-Star Game assist leader in helping Team LeBron top Team Durant, 170-150., at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Chris Paul misses his All-Star backcourt brother.

Devin Booker had to skip playing in Sunday’s NBA All-Star and 3-point contest in Atlanta after suffering a left knee sprain in Thursday’s win over Golden State to conclude the first half of the season for the red-hot Phoenix Suns (24-11).

“It’s actually tough being here without him,” Paul said before Sunday’s All-Star game. 

Booker is listed as day-to-day as he’ll be re-evaluated after the break as the Suns resume action Thursday at Portland (21-14), a team they drummed by 32 points last month in Phoenix.

“I was actually looking forward to coming here with Book, but his health is what’s most important,” said Paul, who has been joined in Atlanta by his dad, brother, son and nephew. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but the timing, going right into this little break, I know him and how much he hates to miss any game. I know he’s rehabbing and trying to get ready.”

Paul finished with six points, eight rebounds and a game-high 16 assists in helping Team LeBron defeated Team Durant, 170-150, Sunday night at State Farm Arena.

Kevin Durant drafted Booker, who was replaced by Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley.

“Shoutout to my brother, the late Kobe Bryant,” Paul said after the game. “I only know one way to play. And that’s to win. So we kept talking about it over there. It’s a game. Everybody wants to stay healthy, but we want to win. So we’re competing now, and we won.”

Paul is now the all-time leader in assists in NBA All-Star game history as he now has 128 to previous leader Magic Johnson, who has 127.

“The way I knew how many assists I needed to break it was my son,” said Paul, whose final assist of the night, which proved to be the record-breaking one, was to Damian Lillard for 3 that gave Team LeBron a 167-147 lead.

“My son came up to me at halftime and said, ‘Dad, you need four more assists.'”   

Having Booker miss All-Star Sunday doesn’t change how he and Paul have led Phoenix to having the second-best record in the league behind Utah (27-9). 

“They’ve played together like they’ve been together for a long time,” said Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers, who coached Paul when both were with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Booker and Paul respected each other as opponents, have bonded as teammates and give the Suns two closers down the stretch of close games.

“They’re the two keys,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “Those two guys are the keys to their offense. I think everybody else feeds off of them.” 

Paul and Booker work out together, motivate each other and have found a undeniable chemistry that fuels their competitive spirit.

“After practice, they’re going at it,” Suns guard Cameron Payne said. “Learning new things. Finding different ways to score within the offense. I feel like that’s one of the reasons why they’ve meshed so good together.” 

The 35-year-old Paul is making his 11th All-Star appearance to mark the second consecutive year he’s made a difference on a new team.

The veteran point guard made it last year as a reserve with Oklahoma City in leading the Thunder to the playoffs.

This year, Paul has played a such major role in Phoenix’s resurgence, Suns legend and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is saying Paul should in the NBA MVP conversation.

“He’s just such a smart player, man,” said Rivers, who noted he and Paul had a long talk Saturday at the two checked in at the same time.

“Still obviously skilled. Still athletic, but if you give Chris Paul a team of guys that want to follow, and that’s the key. Chris can be tough, but he’s with the right group. They want to follow. They want to be led. There’s no better player in the NBA for that.” 

In sticking with that theme, Booker, the franchise star and team’s best player, is as loyal a follower of Paul as anyone on the team.

“Book is such a great guy, he listens,” Payne said. “Chris Paul is like they call him, ‘The Point God,’ and when you got another star player like Book who is actually taking that in and listening to him, finding ways to score easier instead of having to work hard on every play, that’s big-time for them. Their communication is up to here. It’s beyond a lot of guys’ communication.”

Paul has said he came to Phoenix “to play with Book.”

Now he’s doing his part to help Booker take his game to a winning level.

“Devin has always needed a guy that can get him the ball in the right spots,” Rivers said. “You think about Devin, for his first four or five years, he’s had to play with the ball and score. And now he can get it off of picks, he can get off of transition passes. I think Chris has probably helped Devin the most as far as the guys on the team.” 

Paul was voted in as a reserve by the Western Conference coaches this year. It’s easy to see why that happened when hearing their praises of him.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr: “Getting Chris Paul changed everything.”

Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel: “Chris Paul has put his imprint on a really youthful and talented group.”

Although Booker wasn’t able to participate in Sunday’s events after receiving a second-straight All-Star selection, his presence is still felt in Atlanta. Players like first-time All-Star Zach LaVine can relate to the journey Booker made in becoming an All-Star.

“You play the cards you are dealt,” LaVine said. “Everybody’s hand is different and especially in situations like mine and Devin’s where we weren’t drafted to a team that was a top-five team. Even though we put up these numbers on these teams that aren’t in the playoffs, it’s almost like you’re looked down upon for it.”

Now Booker’s Suns are second in the West while LaVine’s Bulls (16-18) are ninth in the East, but just two games out of the fourth spot held by Boston (19-17).

“We have to continue to go out there and fight for your respect and once you get it, you want to stay with it,” LaVine continued. “I think the players understand that and we also have to understand that it’s not always about individual things. You have to learn to go toward winning.”

Booker made it as an injury replacement for a second straight year as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver chooses the replacement players. He initially replaced Lakers big Anthony Davis, who has been out with a calf strain.

Then Booker suffered the knee sprain, thus leading to the selection of Conley, who received his first All-Star nod in his 14th NBA season.

Conley said he was back in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, with his family at the dinner table when his phone started blowing up.

“I started to get a bunch a calls on my phone from numbers I didn’t know,” Conley recalls Sunday. “So I just kept kind of cancelling it, ending a call early.”

Conley even cancelled a call from his dad of the same name.

Continuing to eat, Conley figured he’d call his dad back later, but then a text came through from the Jazz.

“They were like, ‘Hey you might want to call back, the league is trying to reach you,'” Conley said. “And I was like, the league? I’m thinking like, what could they want.”

That prompted Conley to leave the dinner table to find out what was so urgent. He goes to the bathroom and calls the NBA back.

“He’s like, ‘Hey Mike, we’ve got some good news. There’s a spot available in the 3-point contest and the All-Star game,'” Conley said. “All I heard was 3-point contest and I was like, ‘Yeah, for sure. I’d love to do that.’ I was like, ‘And an All-Star spot?’ He was like, ‘Yeah man, if you’re available.'”

Say no more. 

“I’m on the first thing smoking,” he said.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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