Home|Sports|Ayton drops in two double-doubles over the weekendSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailFebruary 6, 2023 163 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Bahamian professional basketball player with the Phoenix Suns DeAndre Ayton had a dominating performance for his team over the weekend as he recorded a double-double twice in helping the Suns take down the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons on the road.
Ayton and the Suns took care of the Celtics, 106-94, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on Friday night, and then picked up a 116-100 victory over the Pistons at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on Saturday night.
Against the Celtics, Ayton, 24, fell five assists short of a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. He did all of this and had a blocked shot in 35 minutes on the floor, and shot 7-for-13 from the field.
Against the Pistons, Ayton finished with 31 points for the second time this season and had 16 rebounds. It was the first time in his career that he finished with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a game.
The big man had the hot hand for his team, missing just two shots in 31 minutes on the floor. He finished 13-for-15 from the field, shooting 86.7 percent. He was also able to connect on 5-of-6 shots from the charity stripe. Ayton added two assists and a blocked shot. On Saturday, Ayton and the Suns played in front of new Suns owner Mat Ishbia who was sitting courtside.
“The pressure … thought I had on a tie on the court. Ok, fix your tie,” Ayton told reporters afterwards. “It was fun. It was good to put on a performance.”
As for his 30-plus points and 15-plus rebounds performance, the big man said there is more where that came from.
“I’m going to get it again. Get 30 (points) and 20 (rebounds), but all that stuff, 30 and extra, that’s just things that I’m required to do … taking care of business,” he said.
Ayton had a good start to the game on Saturday night, dropping in eight points on 3-for-5 shots from the field and he also pulled down five rebounds in the first quarter. He continued to produce in the second quarter as he made all four of his shot attempts and went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Most of his shots came from assists from Chris Paul, finding him in the paint.
At the end of the first half, Ayton already had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, helping his Suns take a 58-49 lead. The first overall pick in the 2018 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft added 12 more points on 6-for-6 shooting and added six rebounds in the second half, helping the Suns pick up their 29th victory of the season.
Paul finished with 14 assists in this contest, with five of them coming from Ayton – the most to any of the Suns players.
Ayton is averaging 18 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest in the 46 games he has played in this season. He is shooting 58 percent from the field.
The Suns will continue their five-game Eastern Conference road trip when they take on the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, tomorrow. That game tips off at 7.30 p.m. on TNT.