Ayton solid in 1st game vs. Pacers since offer

INDIANAPOLIS – Deandre Ayton finally faced the team that gave him the four-year, $133-million offer sheet last summer.

In the building he would’ve called home had Phoenix not matched the offer, Ayton went for 22 points and 11 rebounds in leading the Suns past the Pacers, 117-104, Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“It went through my mind,” Ayton said after the game about facing Indiana for the first time since receiving the max offer sheet. “I had to bust their butt, but at the same time, the fans showed some love. The results of the game, the intensity, how we played because they fought.”

Ayton was out with a non-COVID illness the first time the Suns played Indiana last month in Phoenix.

“In that third quarter, I thought DA’s energy, effort, the juice, communication on the glass, I thought it gave everybody a ton of whatever you want to call it, especially on a back-to-back,” Suns coach Monty Williams said after Friday’s win that allowed Phoenix to finish its fivegame road trip, 4-1.

Ayton would’ve been the centerpiece for a young Pacers team and paired up with All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton had Phoenix let him walk. He expressed his appreciation to Indiana for making that offer, but the Suns big is beyond satisfied with where he is.

“I enjoyed playing against them and being out there, but I’m happy with my Suns, though,” Ayton said. “Forget that. That’s behind me. I’m happy I’m with my Suns.”

The Suns (31-27) are 10-3 in their last 13 games and just acquired superstar Kevin Durant in a blockbuster trade before last Thursday’s deadline.

“I’m happy I stayed in the Valley,” Ayton said. “All that stuff is behind me for real, but it was cool seeing how all that process and business side work. The dudes that wanted you, but you still got to come back in and handle business and do what you do best. That was the business side of it that I learned (Friday).”

Ayton managed just two rebounds in 30 minutes of Thursday’s loss at Atlanta after just posting his first two career 30 and 15 games in consecutive outings at Detroit and at Brooklyn.

“One time, he said, ‘They’re boxing me out when he goes to (defensive rebound),’” Williams said after Thursday’s game that ended with Atlanta destroying in the Suns on the glass, 59-35.

The Hawks grabbed 20 offensive rebounds.

“I’m not sure. I got to look at film and see, but that’s not his normal,” Williams said. “I mean, he gets 10 in his sleep. So, we don’t expect that to happen again.”

Thursday was the second time in his career he managed just two rebounds, with the first coming his rookie season at Charlotte in 22 minutes. Ayton’s career Iow for rebounds is actually zero, which happened at Detroit last season, but he only played eight minutes before leaving the game with a right ankle sprain and never returning.

Still, Ayton is averaging 10.2 rebounds for his career and this season.

So, Williams expected to see Ayton’s “normal” Friday even in second of a back-to-back to conclude a five-game road trip.

“I’m sure he wants to bounce back and dominate the paint and get every defensive board he can,” Williams said before Friday’s game.

Ayton finished Friday with seven defensive rebounds and four offensive boards. Three of those four offensive rebounds came in the fourth quarter when Williams put him back in the game with 4:26 left.

“I know I didn’t rebound and when Coach asked me to go back in there, I needed that,” Ayton said. “I know I needed to get my boards up a little bit. It was some BS boards, but I at the same time, still got to go get them.”

The Suns were up by as many as 26 points with under eight minutes remaining, but Indiana cut the lead down to 109-94 before Ayton returned.

His final bucket put Phoenix up, 117102, with 26.8 seconds left.

The Suns won the rebounding battle in dominant fashion, 53-38, Friday.

They grabbed 19 offensive rebounds with Suns wing Torrey Craig locating five in this game-high 12-rebound effort against one of his former teams.

“Rebounding is an attention to detail and effort,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “That’s something that’s controllable.”