Josh Okogie was once again a standout player for the Phoenix Suns in their 107-100 win over his former side, Minnesota Timberwolves at the Footprint Centre on Thursday. 

Okogie was in the starting line-up with Torrey Craig returning to the bench after the return of All-Star power forward Kevin Durant. D’Tigers forward had 10 points, nine rebounds, two steals and one block. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant both led the Suns in scoring with 18 points apiece. 

Since joining the Suns at the start of the season, Okogie has risen in his relevance and importance for the franchise which has earned him accolades from players and the coaching staff. Speaking after the win, Booker stressed that the victory against the Timberwolves was all down to the performance of the Nigerian. 

“I matched up against him in practice and training camps and that was where I finally got the feeling for myself. He’s an incredible player, his instincts are off the chart and he has the intangibles that not many players in this league have so he’s very important for this win.”

Okogie’s former coach at Minnesota has hailed his improvement and hailed his overall performance with the Suns. 

“I love Josh, it was great to have him. They’ve got him playing in a very good role, he’s playing with a lot of confidence, shooting the ball well. We know his defence, his hustle, his winning intangibles. When I look back at his time with us,” Finch said.

“I know we have a lot of freedom in our team offensively, maybe he’s a little better in a tighter role, maybe they don’t need him to do as much as we offered in our system and I think that really suited him well.”