![]() The two bigs have split their 14 head-to-head matchups counting the playoffs. Game 1 is set for Saturday at Ball Arena in Denver. Now Ayton will face Jokic again in this year’s conference semifinals. “To My Brother DA U Are Beast!!! Keep Up The Good Work!!!” Months later, the Suns swept Denver in the Western Conference semifinals and Jokic sent Ayton an autographed Nuggets jersey with a special message after the series. He stopped me five, six, seven, eight times. The best thing is that a young player can have that mindset. “He’s amazing, give the guy credit,” Jokic said after the Suns lost in double overtime on Jan. They had a net rating that ranked ninth in the NBA, an accomplishment with the team missing starters Devin Booker (29 games), Chris Paul (23) and Deandre Ayton (15 games) due to injuries.Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton has had his share of moments against reigning two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, but his biggest ones might have come off the court.Īfter the Denver Nuggets won back-to-back overtime road games against the Suns in the 2020-21 season, Jokic gave Ayton major props. This past year, the Suns finished fourth in the Western Conference with a 45-37 record. Williams was with the Suns in the 2020 NBA Bubble, which included an 8-0 run that would set the tone for the next two seasons. In his first season, the Suns made strides improving to 34 wins from 19 the season prior. In the 2020-21 season, Williams led the Suns to the NBA Finals for the first time for the franchise since 1993. He’s also received the award from the National Basketball Coach’s Association in consecutive seasons. Taking over as head coach of the Suns prior to the 2019-20 NBA season, Phoenix saw improvement in every season under the leadership of Williams before 2022-23.Īfter leading the Suns to an NBA-best 64-18 record last season, Williams was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year. ![]() He has one year of his original five-year deal remaining for the 2023-24 season before the extension kicks in. Williams agreed to a multi-year extension in July 2022, when the team was under former owner Robert Sarver. Phoenix recovered from a 2-0 hole against the top-seeded Denver Nuggets this year after the Suns acquired star Kevin Durant in a trade-deadline blockbuster but lost in a non-competitive Game 6 elimination, again at home and again including a 30-point halftime deficit. The Suns blew 2-0 lead on the Milwaukee Bucks to fall in six games in the 2021 Finals, then another 2-0 lead on the Dallas Mavericks in the 2022 conference semis. Williams, though, ultimately takes the fall for how each of those playoff runs ended. The Suns narrowly missed the playoff bubble in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season before going to the NBA Finals in 2021 and losing in the conference semifinals the past two years. Williams went 194-115 (.628) in four seasons. NBA reporter Marc Stein adds that the Suns will try and lure Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue away from the team. Phoenix now will be competing with the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons in the coaching free-agent market this offseason. The firing comes just two days after the team’s 2023 playoff exit against the Denver Nuggets in six games. Suns GM James Jones called Williams on Saturday night and delivered the news to him,” Wojnarowski said. “Ishbia has fully taken over the franchise’s basketball operations, including the negotiation of the February trade for Kevin Durant and now the dismissal of Williams. ![]() The Suns continue to turn over all levels of the organization as the decision was made by new owner Mat Ishbia, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. While it was difficult for me to make this decision, I look forward to continuing the work to build a championship team.” “We are filled with gratitude for everything Monty has contributed to the Suns and to the Valley community. “Monty has been foundational to our success over the past four seasons,” President of Basketball Operations and General Manager James Jones said in a press release. The Phoenix Suns fired head coach Monty Williams on Saturday, the team announced. ![]()
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