In the NBA regular season, the Suns beat the Pistons 135-108 to win three straight and continue to rank first in the league. With the Warriors losing again, the Suns' lead has stretched to 2.5 wins. The Suns won the game, but the heart of the team's interior Ayton was not in a very good mood, and he only played 7 minutes before leaving the game injured.
Ayton left the game with an ankle sprain in the second quarter of the game, and then the Suns officially announced that he was withdrawing from the game, and Ayton played a total of 7 minutes and 37 seconds in the whole game, with 6 points, 2 assists and 1 steal. After the game, Suns coach Monty said that there was no latest news from Ayton and that he needed to wait for an inspection to know the situation. Without Ayton, the team's interior line has not been affected, which is what he should worry about the most, after all, last offseason, the Suns refused to give him a maximum salary contract, and he also wanted to prove himself, but unfortunately his role seemed to become weak.
Without Ayton, McGee on the bench ushered in a performance opportunity, came up to play only 15 minutes, 9 of 10, 20 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block, which made up for the gap left by Ayton. Looking at McGee's excellent performance, this may also be the reason why the Suns boss insists on not giving Ayton a maximum salary, he is not like Doncic and Trae Young, he has a very hot performance. Although Ayton can average 17 points and 10 rebounds per game, he does not have much dominance, such as last season's finals, and did not help the team very well.
Paul should prefer to work with players who are physically fit and defensively good than players like The Hornets (now pelicans) and Jordan Jr. of the Clippers. In fact, the Suns should also seek such an interior player to grasp the peak of Paul's last few years.
Not to mention McGee, when there was no one in the team's internal line before, the temporary worker Bi Yongbo, he also seized the opportunity very well. With his outstanding performance, he quickly gained the trust of the team and successfully regularized the 10-day short contract. In the game against the Pistons, Biyombo also played 14 minutes, contributing 7 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block.
Watching McGee and Biyombo have a good performance, very well to make up for Ayton's vacancy, which will make the Sun boss more determined not to provide Ayton with a maximum salary, there is really no chance.