Deandre Ayton helps hand Suns unwanted 2026 playoff record

The Phoenix Suns are on the brink of postseason elimination at home he hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, although that is not the only series fans have had an interest in.

There are simply too many links between The Valley and what is playing out between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers in their own Round 1 matchup.

Deandre Ayton ejection helps makes Suns only playoff team without win

Game 4 of that series surprisingly did not end in a sweep, despite Kevin Durant again missing his absence from the bench in Game 3 feeling very much like the last days of his tenure in Phoenix.

Durant was there for the Game 4 victory, and he was again front and center in waving Deandre Ayton out of the building after his flagrant 2 led to an automatic ejection.

But what Ayton’s dismissal also helped to accomplish was the Suns officially becoming the only team remaining in the postseason who are yet to win a game. A fact that doesn’t look like it will change in their own Game 4 versus the Thunder.

Ultimately this doesn’t mean anything, and yet there is something bittersweet about the Suns being in this position at all. The fact they made it to the playoffs given preseason expectations was a huge feather in cap of first year head coach Jordan Ott.

But to then slip-up against the Portland Trail Blazers and end up having to salvage their playoff spot versus the Golden State Warriors and so end up playing the top seeded Thunder took the air out of all of the positivity around the franchise.

It hasn’t gotten much better in the series, with the Thunder getting a favorable whistle and Devin Booker forcing us to accept that we may be witnessing his peak in The Valley right now.

The inability of Mark Williams to play and Grayson Allen also having his own injury struggles came at the wrong time, although it’s not like a fully healthy Suns could have made this series any more difficult for the Thunder. Or could they?

Phoenix one of the few teams to beat them more than once this season, thanks in large part to an intensity during the regular season that few opponents could match. The postseason is a different beast however, as the Suns have painfully discovered in this series.

To likely bow out without winning a game is harsh because of the recency bias that will come with it. Fans will quickly forget what was the most enjoyable season in years, instead remembering a quick series at the hands of Oklahoma City instead.

A reality not helped by their former first overall pick getting ejected and waved out of the building by a star who set the franchise back years. Funny how the NBA works sometimes.

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