Surprise! Ayton played. Sort of.
Credit where it is due: after being ruled out the day prior to the game, Ayton was upgraded to probable and, although he didn’t start, he was able to come off the bench for 20 minutes.
So he played, but I wouldn’t exactly say he played. At least, not initially.
He seemed to move and jump well enough, making it look like his ankle was feeling okay, but the rest of his body was covered in rust.
After his first few minutes in the game, you could almost hear every high school coach around the country screaming through their TV for him to use two hands when rebounding. Several times Ayton went up with one hand only to have it knocked away and or grabbed out of his hands by an opponent. Usually that opposing player was Hassan Whiteside, who abused everyone on the glass with 22 rebounds.
Offensively, it was the same ole Ayton, hoisting up ill-advised 18-footer after ill-advised 18-footer. He did make one of them and had two nice tip-ins, but that was the only points he contributed. Of note, he also bricked two shots in the paint off the backboard.
Needless to say, he did not goto the free throw line.
In the aftermath of much trade speculation (or perhaps trade hope) around Karl-Anthony Towns, Ayton didn’t exactly put up a great audition for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
That is, up until the the final few minutes. I was curious to see if Monty Williams would play him late after he struggled early, but he did, and again, credit where it is due, Ayton contributed. He grabbed a bunch or rebounds and disrupted Portland just enough on defense.
Overall, the big man finished with 12 boards and six points, but more importantly, it was good to see the Suns with their full complement of players for the first time since game one.