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Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton will miss at least one week after suffering a sprained left ankle in the first quarter of Friday’s 124-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Suns announced that Ayton has been ruled out for Sunday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets and that he will be reevaluated in one week, meaning that he will also likely miss Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
With just under five minutes left in the first quarter of Friday night’s game, Ayton took a jump shot from the free throw line and landed on the foot of Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas.
As the announcers remarked in the clip, it’s surprising that there was no foul called on the play. Not only do we usually see plays like this whistled as defensive fouls, but they are also often reviewed by the officials for potential upgrades to flagrant fouls due to a “reckless closeout.”
Suns coach Monty Williams said on Saturday that he didn’t feel Valaciunas did anything “malicious,” but that there should have been a foul called on the play.
After a tumultuous contract situation over the last couple of seasons, the Suns wound up matching the Indiana Pacers‘ four-year, $133 million offer sheet for the 24-year-old former No. 1 overall draft pick this summer. Ayton later turned heads early in training camp when he mentioned that he and Williams had not spoken since an on-court argument during the Suns’ devastating Game 7 elimination at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.
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Despite any possible friction behind the scenes, Ayton and the 4-1 Suns have performed well on the court to start the season. The big man entered Friday’s game averaging 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game on 55 percent shooting. With Ayton out, the Suns will likely enlist more minutes from Bismack Biyombo, Jock Landale and potentially Dario Saric, while we could also see more small-ball lineups when matchups are appropriate.
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