The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

When Deandre Ayton joined the Phoenix Suns as a rookie in the 2018-19 season, the team finished just 19-63.

Now several seasons later, the Suns set a new franchise record with 63 wins and have already clinched the top overall seed in the Western Conference standings with three games remaining in the regular season.

The Suns improved to a franchise best 63-16 with Tuesday night’s 121-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Ayton finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes.

The Suns bested the previous season high mark of 62 wins set by the 1992-93 team that advanced to the NBA Finals and the 2004-05 team.

“That’s how life goes, what goes around comes around, and it’s now Phoenix’s turn to come around,” Ayton told reporters in his post game availability, “All I could do in the last five seconds of the game is tell everybody how much I appreciate them. I went down the line from the staff to everybody who was sitting out there on the bench with us until I got to the back where everybody else was at, I just had to tell everybody thank you. Especially putting up with me.”

The Suns’ season high total from the 2015-19 period was just 24 wins. In the 2019-20 Monty Williams took over as head coach and James Jones became general manager. The Suns improved to 34-39 in the 2020 season, highlighted by their 8-0 performance at the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida.

They followed with a 51-21 record last season, won the Pacific Division title for the first time in 14 years and ended one of the league’s longest playoff droughts when they earned a postseason berth for the first time in 11 years. They also made their first NBA Finals appearance in 28 years.

“There’s a lot more to go. But on this team, we celebrate everything. That was a joyful moment to really embrace everything,” Ayton said, “Four years ago we are at the pit, the bottom of the barrel, we almost thought we weren’t a part of the league”

In 57 games this season, Ayton has averaged 17.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game on 64 percent shooting from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line.

“Whatever you put into the game, however you approach it, that’s what you’ll get,” Ayton said, “That’s what the game do, that’s why we got 63.”

The Suns will close out the season on the road against the Utah Jazz on Friday and will host the regular-season finale Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.

The fourth year centre said the Suns continue their quest of getting better down the stretch as they prepare for another deep playoff run.

“It’s that 30 percent Javale [McGee] and [Chris Paul] always talks about. We think we’re operating at 100 percent but there’s another 30 percent we can get to to be where we want to be and that’s what got us all locked in,” he said, “We knew the last couple games we played we weren’t ourselves. But as good teams do, we got together, sat down, spoke on things, we talked it out, went on that battlefield and played for each other.”

After a run at the NBA Finals, the Suns surprisingly began this season with a 1-3 before they responded with a franchise-record 18 consecutive wins in a row. The Suns clinched the top seed in the West on March 24 on the road in a win at Denver, but were able to claim the franchise record at home in Phoenix.

“Especially for the fans to see. Happening here made it more meaningful doing it at home,” Ayton said, “The whole city evolved. One thing I was telling my family when we first got here ‘We’re going to bring life to this city one day’ because I wasn’t used to losing. Now, here we are, there’s all types of lights everywhere I turn.”

Williams, one of the leading candidates for Coach of the Year, echoed Ayton’s sentiments on the support the franchise has felt from the city of Phoenix.

“It started with the young guys we had that first year, the bubble the following year, and the individual stuff that we have seen guys achieve along the way. This is unbelievably special for so many people and not just the people in the organisation but the people in the city,” Williams said, “Everywhere I go people talk about the Suns being their baby so to have us playing this way and achieving this goal is huge for The Valley.”