Ayton comes through late in Suns’ win
Deandre Ayton can’t stop working and improving even if he tried.
Monty Williams won’t let him rest on his laurels.
“Man, Coach Monty has been on my tail,” Ayton said.
Williams hopes Ayton understands it’s coming from a good place.
“I hope it means that I care enough about him to help him reach his potential as a player and a person.” Williams said.
Ayton feels that and more from his head coach.
“The relationship I have with him, I haven’t had with no other coach in my life,” Ayton said. “I’ve never had so many conversations. I never texted a coach at night, after a game. I’ve never had one ask me how I’m doing. Monty is my guy, man. He just wants the best for you. He’s not calling you out, he’s calling you up. He knows what the potential is. He knows what you’re capable of and he just wants you to do the right thing.”
This coach-player relationship hasn’t always been pretty.
Williams has gotten on Ayton’s case. Ayton hasn’t always taken it well initially, but the the two are united on multiple levels. That has helped the Suns maintain the NBA’s second-best record as they pushed past Sacramento, 122-114, Thursday night.
Ayton scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-11 shooting with10 points coming in the fourth quarter.
“I was really happy for DA to be able to be the guy down the stretch, taking advantage of his size against their switches, which is something that earlier in the season, I don’t think we would’ve done it as well,” Williams said.
There weren’t any current Suns players on the team when Phoenix last won at least 40 games in the 2013-14 season. Having won 11 of their last 12 games, the Suns (40-15) are even closer to returning to the postseason for the first time since 2010.
“We’re definitely enjoying seeing that 4-0,” Ayton said.
Here’s a look back at Thursday’s win over the Kings (22-34) to take the season series, 2-1, and ahead to the finale of a five-game homestand Saturday against San Antonio (26-27) at Phoenix Suns Arena.
Player of Thursday’s game: Deandre Ayton
Devin Booker rediscovered his shooting touch to a degree in a 23-point effort Thursday after scoring just 12 on a shaky 4-of-16 shooting (1-of-8 from 3) in Tuesday’s 20-poin victory against Miami.
While the two-time All-Star went 8of-19 overall against the Kings, he still was just 3-of-10 from 3.
So Booker is still searching for that rhythm, but winning overrides all for him and the Suns.
“Still spots where I can get a lot better in, but overall, coming out with wins,” Booker said. “Coach always says coming by any win in this league is a hard thing to do. So that’s something we don’t want to take for granted. We put the personal play aside and we all have a main objective of winning the game.”
Mikal Bridges, Chris Paul and Jevon Carter each scored 13 points. Paul posted his 17th double-double as he finished with 11 assists, but the guy he first saw coaching against in an AAU was the difference Thursday night.
Ayton.
“I got here, had a chance to get to know him myself and it’s been amazing to see how he’s grown throughout the season,” Paul said.
Racking up his 30th double-double of the season, Ayton grabbed 11 rebounds with four coming on the offensive glass. Still trying to comprehend why Kings coach Luke Walton went small down the stretch, but Ayton took advantage of it as he played over the top of the shorter and smaller Harrison Barnes and Maurice Harkless.
‘He’s clearly very valuable’
Before the game, Walton was asked several questions with most centered on the impact Paul has had on the Suns.
This fuels a growing narrative that Paul should be in the MVP conversation.
“I don’t think he will win it, but you talk about MVP being the most valuable player, he’s clearly very valuable to whatever team he goes to and what he does,” Walton said.
Walton also made it clear Paul isn’t the only reason Phoenix is flourishing this season.
“Between the signing of him and (Jae) Crowder, who is another player that’s playing big minutes as far as when he’s out there and the type of experience he has,” Walton said. “Being a stretch four that can guard and come up with winning plays. Like signing those two to a young, coming-up team, I wouldn’t say I would’ve guessed that they were tied for first or second in the West, but my guess was they were going to have a very good year this year.”