SUN-SATIONAL
Deandre Ayton’s impact in Phoenix’s Game 2 victory went beyond making the winning dunk
Suns center Deandre Ayton’s performance in the NBA playoffs no longer can be called a coming-out party. Party’s over. He’s arrived.
Ayton’s game-winning dunk off an in-bounds pass from Jae Crowder with .7 seconds Tuesday night against the Clippers was an exclamation point to another impressive playoff performance for Ayton.
They are becoming routine now. Ayton has played this way in 12 playoff games over 29 days. The Suns have won 10 of them, including Tuesday’s 104-103 victory, and are now up 2-0 on the Clippers in the Western Conference finals.
The Suns played Tuesday without Chris Paul, who remains out while he weaves through the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
And the Suns played Tuesday night without Devin Booker, at least the
Devin Booker who recorded the first triple-double of his career Sunday in Game 1.
This Devin Booker scored 20 points, made just 5 of 16 shots, committed seven turnovers and took a shot to the nose near the end of the third quarter.
The Suns needed someone else to step up and step in. And Ayton did that. He finished with 24 points on 12 of 15 shooting. Twelve of those points came in the first quarter and eight in the third. Both stretches were among the few times Tuesday night the Suns had any consistent flow to their offense.
In between those periods, the Suns seemed to forget about Ayton.
Through much of his previous three seasons, we would have blamed such periods on Ayton. He didn’t run the court as he should, we’d say. Or, he wasn’t as attentive as he needed to be. Or, he seemed to be just floating through the games.
Not after this playoff run. Now, we blame others when Ayton isn’t having an impact on the offense. Run a play for him once in a while, we say. Reward him for running the court. Someone tap Monty Williams on the shoulder and tell him his 6-foot-11 center is playing pretty well.
That change is a testament to how well Ayton has played this post-season. He hasn’t had a bad game yet and is averaging more than 16 points and almost 11 rebounds a game.
Ayton said his focus has ratcheted up to “150 percent” in the playoffs, which his necessary because “it’s really intense, especially when the fatigue kicks in.”
It’s the little things Ayton has done that have endeared him to teammates in the playoffs. A blocked shot when they needed it most. An offensive rebound and basket when the offense bogged down. A spin move and baby hook. A 15foot jumper.
Ayton did all of those things on Tuesday.
Few things in life can be as infuriating, and rewarding, as watching kids grow up right before your eyes. And that’s what Ayton has done.
His game-winning dunk will be shown as long as folks continue to care about basketball. It was a great play by Ayton, but as Williams noted, it doesn’t work if Booker doesn’t set a good screen for Ayton and if Crowder doesn’t make a perfect pass, just in the front of the rim, for Ayton.
“If you’re around the game long enough, you’re going to see a lot,” Williams said. “It was amazing play.”
But the Suns probably don’t reach that point if Ayton has a pedestrian game. Or if Cameron Payne doesn’t score 29 points. And if the Clippers’ Paul George doesn’t miss two free throws with his team leading by one point with 8.2 seconds left.
The crowd of 16,645 was on its feet and testing its lung capacity as Paul shot the free throws. That might have had something to do with him missing.
“I’m just grateful for the fan base,” Williams said. “This might be the loudest place I’ve been in my career. It’s good to have them in the house, especially in those moments.”
It is also good to have a 6-11 center who is living up to the expectations that come with being the No. 1 overall pick.
It’s taken a village to get Ayton to this point. Booker is in his ear constantly. Paul resides in the other. When they take a break, Williams and his staff fill the void. Assistant Mark Bryant has mentored Ayton.
To his credit, Ayton has not recoiled at this, like many of us would. He has been humble enough to accept the idea that he had room to grow, and had better set about doing it.
Over time, Williams convinced Ayton that time in the gym would result in moments, or months, like Ayton has experienced in these playoffs.
Now, Ayton said, “I don’t want to get out of the gym.”
Ayton’s lack of ego has led him to thrive in an offense that runs very few plays for him. He sets screens willingly and doesn’t complain.
“You see the work behind the scenes,” Booker said of Ayton. “He’s a dominant force.”
Ayton has presented many problems for the Clippers, who haven’t found a way to counter his size and athleticism
But the series isn’t over. An argument could be made that it’s just starting.
Saying the Clippers are down 2-0 in a playoff series has become a cliche. They were against the Mavericks in round one and won. They were against the Jazz in round two and won. And now they have done it again against the Suns.
Not that coach Tyronn Lue views this as a favorable position.
“It’s hard to get behind 0-2 and just keep fighting from behind,” he said. “It takes a lot out of you.”
But overcoming the Suns’ 2-0 lead is a more difficult challenge, especially if Paul returns soon and the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard doesn’t.
And especially if Ayton continues to play at his current level, which after 12 playoff games over nearly a month, seems like a given.
“You see the work behind the scenes. He’s a dominant force.”
Devin Booker
About teammate Deandre Ayton