The history of the Phoenix Suns playing on Leap Day
The Phoenix Suns play the Golden State Warriors on Leap Day this year, a day of limited yet interesting history for the franchise.
February 29. Leap Day. The rarest date on the calendar because it isn’t even on the calendar for three out of four years. I’ve always wondered with awe what it would be like to have a birthday on this unicorn of a date. Kind of like the Olympics, every four years would be quite the bash. The Phoenix Suns have partied on the court four times on Leap Day in their history and post a 2-2 record in those games. Let’s explore these unique occasions.
2004
The last time they played on February 29 was in 2004 against the Sacramento Kings. In short, the Kings were good that year and the Suns were not.
Amar’e Stoudemire led the Suns with 33 points and 17 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to surpass the Kings, led by Peja Stojaković‘s 32 points and Dough Christie’s near triple-double (29 points, nine assists, eight rebounds).
The Suns were 20-41 battling the 42-15 Kings, who went on to the Western Conference semi-finals before losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in seven games.
2000
Moving back in the clock four more years, the Suns played on the previous Leap Day in 2000. On this day, they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-93.
The big stars of the day for the Suns were Anfernee Hardaway and Jason Kidd who scored 22 and 21 points respectively. For the Cavs, Lamond Murray (18 points), Andre Miller (16 points, 12 assists), and Shawn Kemp (15 points, three blocks) were the stars of the day.
This is the only time the Suns played on Leap Day with a winning record (35-21) The Cavs were 22-34. The Suns would go on to earn the 5th seed in the West before losing to the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs in five games.
1984
Then, there is a 16-year gap in history books between the last time the Suns played on Leap Day. You have to go all the way back to 1984 when the Suns played on Leap Day and lost to the San Diego Clippers 102-95.
That is not a typo: the San Diego Clippers. This is one of those things I knew, but kind of forgot. The Clippers played in San Diego from 1978-1984. The team moved to Los Angeles the following season.
The big names on this Leap Day for the Suns were James Edwards (33 points, seven rebounds), Walter Davis (17 points) and Larry Nance (16 points). For the Clippers of San Diego, Norm Nixon (25 points, nine rebounds) and Terry Cummings (20 points) and Derek Smith (19 points) led the way.
Of note, Suns shot 3-8 from 3-point range (shout out to Kyle Macy‘s 1-1 that day) and the San Diego Clippers did not attempt a single shot from behind the (relatively new-to-the-game) arc.
1976
The first time the Phoenix Suns ever played on Leap Day was way back in 1976. On this day, they defeated the Detroit Pistons 109-98.
Stars of the day for the Suns were Paul Westphal (32 points) and Ricky Sobers (22 points, 11 rebounds) while the Detroit Pistons were led by Bob Lanier (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Eric Money (18 points, 11 assists).
The Suns were 27-32 and the Pistons were 24-35, so it wasn’t exactly a battle of the NBA heavyweights at the time, sort of like Friday night.
2020
The Phoenix Suns play the Golden State Warriors on this Leap Day in an effort to gain a winning record on this rare date. They have a good shot to do so as they are 8.5 point favorites against the Stephen Curry-less Warriors.
Next. Oubre's injury the latest in Suns bad luck. dark
A win tonight would give them a much-needed leap in the standings. Sorry. That was so bad but so necessary. Signing off now before the tomatoes come.