Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton, left, violates Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 in Miami. (AP Photo / Jim Rassol)
Wins for the Phoenix Suns like Tuesday’s 110-100 final over the Miami Heat, the team can use more.
They were tested by a good team along the way, with Miami (22-22) counterattacked in the late third quarter after the Suns (29-13) played an amazing 14-minute stretch from the middle of the second quarter to the late third they had by as many as 22.
Phoenix only had a 12-point lead in the early fourth quarter when the hit came, and a combination of the second unit and Deandre Ayton had to stabilize.
They did, and that was all Miami had in them. The Suns showed a good trait in a handful of wins over good teams where they keep on the chin, and then in the fourth quarter there are no more shots left to throw for the opposition. That defense effect is the quality of a tough, tough team.
Ayton had one of his best games of the season, and for the first time in over a month had a type of two-way impact that is nothing short of encouraging.
“His pick-and-roll coverage was really very good,” head coach Monty Williams said of Ayton’s defense. “His attention to the edge is not dirty, to raise his hands and make it difficult … these are dominant performances. I just thought his focus was on a high level. ”
Ayton finished with 17 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
“If he plays with the kind of strength and focus, it gives us the chance to be the kind of defensive team you saw tonight,” Williams said.
Devin Booker had his mojo attacking and converted on some tough shots and scored 23 points.
Four of the Suns’ five forwards were at least plus 19, a big development given the surprising struggle of the season opener to consistently surpass opponents. Phoenix scored 29 assists up to seven times.
The Suns kept Guard star Jimmy Butler on 14 shots to 14 points, failing to pass any of the world’s best after averaging more than eight free throws per night in his last ten games. Williams said avoiding errors on the edge is part of the game plan. Butler also had five turnovers.
Williams could all play under 30 minutes with Booker, Chris Paul and Jae Crowder in a game in Orlando on Wednesday, while Ayton and Mikal Bridges played 34 each.
In a close game through a quarter-and-a-half, there was a turn in the middle of the second second where the said Suns surge came from.
If you watched or listened, you may have missed the specific play to assign it.
Williams said after a recent home game that Paul had a combination of feelings and instincts for stealing that he had never seen before.
Paul, almost like a basketball spirit from afar on a pair of butterfly effect-type shenanigans, will often influence the flow of a game and distract with one or two plays you would just imagine. At the moment, it looks just like a play. But looking back, it can sometimes be a turning point.
The Heat’s rookie, Precious Achiuwa, fell off the balance and missed a bunny after Paul was leading the Suns by three in the middle of the second quarter, and Paul grabbed the setback thereafter.
Paul kicked the setback forward for a final lob for Booker and then set Bridges up for free throws with a dirty behind-the-back feed next time down.
After that setback pic.twitter.com/ORmP3ESWzt
– Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) March 24, 2021
The Suns ended the first half on a 16-4 run after the initial hold of Achiuwa that would put Miami within a point.
Would it have happened without that sweep and next two passes from Paul? Can be. But it’s one of the things that was a pleasure to watch Paul every night, which is a testament to his everyday status as a point guard.
Sometimes it’s much more than the score would be on an eight-point-nine-night night.
Most of that amazing spray has to do with the big fella.
Part of the reason Ayton has been such a confusing young player to watch this year is not just because he is inconsistent. Of course, the source of his contradiction is a mystery, but conflicting players can still find out pretty easily.
Ayton has not been the case this season yet, as his performances have been more volatile in a match and his mistakes have been appalling at times. He sometimes looked like a rookie to the NBA in his first few weeks. This is bizarre.
However, the player we saw on Tuesday was back on schedule with the previous season. If Ayton brought activity on the offensive glass and got the ball early, it would usually get him going more often than not. That was the case against the Heat.
With Miami switching a lot, the Suns tried to get Ayton involved from the jump. And in the best development of the whole evening for him, it did not go well early. He was blocked on his first shot by Butler, missed the second and Butler pulled the chair on Ayton in the third attempt to get him to travel.
Instead of Ayton snowball, he kept trying to earn a position and eventually it paid off. He made his next three shots.
From there, he remained a presence and rolled to the basket while doing his job defensively.
And if it goes beyond ‘doing his job defensively’ to really influence most possessions, then he’s playing great basketball.
The third quarter was one of the best innings in Ayton’s career.
Crowder said that due to the way Ayton moves, Ayton can use it as a team to make them a top defensive team, because Ayton is not just a one-dimensional defender on ball screens. Crowder said there is a ‘feeling’ with which Ayton can get better by putting himself in the right position, such as when he has to be in certain places, when he has to crash the offensive glass, when he has to run the court, and so on.
This feeling came together completely in that shift.
Ayton said that many people in those kinds of areas have knowledge of staff and to communicate with his defenders, something Crowder said that they constantly emphasized to Ayton and that he improved.
“Across the entire defense, we communicated the entire game, and that’s what brought the intensity and sense of urgency tonight,” Ayton said.
Ayton changed almost every shot at the edge over eight minutes.
When Ayton came off the floor, the Suns’ lead rose to 22. After Dario Saric picked up his fifth offense in the early fourth quarter with the Suns’ advantage up to 15, Ayton was the starter with the save and made sure the game was in safe hands.
It’s too high of expectations to set given the low point of Ayton’s third year, but if it’s the player the Suns can get in the playoffs, they could go all the way.
“In an ideal world, I really want more … For me, I’m never happy to push him because there’s so much there,” Williams said of Ayton.