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Deandre Ayton continued his recent stretch of “DominAyting” so to speak against the Utah Jazz on Saturday Night leading the Suns to a narrow 113-112 win at home to give the team their fourth straight win. Ayton was simply unguardable in this contest, dropping a monster 29 points and 21 rebounds, with 9 of these being offensive with one major rebound securing the win at the end of the game. This board was essentially the cherry on top of a phenomenal outing for Ayton, grabbing it over Suns Killer Lauri Markkanen after a Booker miss.

Ayton over the last couple of games has been the sole reason for the Suns winning, proving more and more how he is worth the four-year $133 million max contract the Suns matched from the Pacers over the summer as an integral part of the franchise. The controversy leading up to this was a question of consistency, despite stepping up into the Playoffs drastically each season including being a major part of the Suns Finals run in 2020.

From a management standpoint, I believe the question was always regarding Ayton taking the next step in his career, in which I can safely say DA has done so this last week. Phoenix is simply seeing a legitimate first option player emerge, as the team looked for him down the stretch to create his own shots and being active on the boards and as a rim protector meanwhile. It is important to note that Ayton is still only 24 years old as well, with a ceiling as high as any player proving why having a great big man is still valuable in a “guard’s league”

Next step for the Suns is for all of their stars to have a great game at the same time, with Devin Booker scoring 27 but needing 27 shots to get there. His jumper simply was not falling in this one, as he almost looked like he was forcing shots to get in rhythm while also dealing with foul trouble the entire second half. In addition, Book actually changed shoes at half time to switch something up perhaps. Mikal Bridges had a classic “Ol’ Reliable” Game shooting 70 percent from the field scoring 16 points, as well as adding solid contributions from Torrey Craig and Damion Lee who did a little bit of everything.

A couple under-the-radar performances came in the form of Ish Wainright and Jock Landale, who prior to this game had not gotten a ton of run seemingly being behind Biyombo in the rotation. Landale got minutes to start the 4th and dropped in two consecutive baskets in the paint, while Wainright had a couple threes including a tough, fadeaway basket at the end of the shot clock.

This win leads the Suns to a prominent 13-6, and an even more impressive 11-1 record at home. The fiery Suns take their hot streak to Sacramento to face off against the Kings on Monday night.

– @SunsReport