The Suns Picked Up A Fourth Straight Win Thanks To Booker, Ayton, And Cam Payne

Two of the NBA bubble’s hottest teams met on Thursday afternoon in Orlando. No, not the Bucks and Heat. Not the Lakers and Rockets either. I’m talking about the Suns and Pacers, a pair of 3-0 teams that have been shockingly impressive to open their restarts, behind sensational play from Devin Booker and T.J. Warren, respectively.

On Thursday, it was the Suns, once the afterthought of the West playoff race, who managed to take control of the game in the second half en route to a 114-99 win, moving them to 4-0 in the bubble, tied with the Spurs just one game back of Portland for ninth and two back of Memphis in eighth. How the Suns have gotten to that point was further evidenced on Thursday, as it was more stellar play from their core duo of Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, combining for 43 points in the win on strong efficiency — a combined 17-for-30 from the field — and each notching double doubles.

However, what is different for the Bubble Suns compared to what we saw in the regular season is the play of the supporting cast. Even with Kelly Oubre Jr. out, the Suns have gotten terrific contributions from the rest of their roster. Ricky Rubio continues to be a steady hand on offense and providing excellent point of attack defense. Mikal Bridges, now tasked with playing major minutes with Oubre out (he played 35 on Thursday), is not only playing spectacular defense but has emerged as a better, more reliable offensive weapon in the bubble.

Cam Johnson is thriving at the 4-spot as a shooter but also a capable rebounder and functional defensive presence, with Dario Saric taking well to a sixth-man role. However, what may be most surprising is the play of Cameron Payne, signed just ahead of the restart to provide some needed backcourt depth. Payne has not only given them decent minutes, he’s looked pretty good, averaging 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in the restart after some brutal years in the league early in his career with the Thunder and Bulls. On Thursday, Payne had another strong outing, giving Phoenix a needed lift in the third quarter with an offensive spark that saw him do a little bit of everything.

Payne finished the afternoon with 15 points, three boards, and three assists in 22 minutes off the bench on great efficiency, going 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range. Even if that kind of production isn’t to be expected from Payne every night, it’s notable that the Suns are now a team where a player can come in, find themselves a role to play, and thrive in it. That hasn’t been the case in Phoenix for years, but it appears Monty Williams, Booker, and Ayton have honestly created a culture in the locker room that allows it and have a real system in place that pieces can slot into.

The efforts of Booker, in particular, should be noted in doing this. Prior to the season he said he was taking it upon himself to start shifting the perception of the Suns, and he’s put that to practice on the floor. Take this sequence from Deandre Ayton that is, truly, preposterous and shows the best of what the big fella can do on both ends of the floor.

However, also note that Booker, recognizing the effort put in from his young star center on defense, doesn’t dart up the floor looking for his shot after Ayton gets him the rock off the block. Instead he directs Ayton to run a pick-and-roll and dive hard to the rim, rewarding him with a great pocket pass and an easy dunk for all that work defensively. It’s that kind of maturation from Booker, those kinds of strides from Ayton defensively, that lead the charge for this Suns transformation. There is buy-in on both ends, and whether they make the playoffs or not, there is a ton of good to build off of for Phoenix going into next season.