Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns got the better of Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, in a game that featured some theatrics between the two stars. Ayton and the Suns got the last laugh, defeating the Raps 114-106 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
Ayton was unhappy with the way Barnes fouled him midway through the third quarter, leading to a stare down and some harsh words between the pair during the altercation and after the game.
“I love it,” Ayton said about the encounter. “You turn me up. You poke the bear. I wish it would get poked every game. Nobody wants to make me mad.”
"I don't know. I love it. You turn me up. You poke the bear. I wish it would get poked every game.."
A smiling Deandre Ayton on him and #Raptors Scottie Barnes having words in 2nd half.
Ayton also took out frustrations on a chair.
"Hoping next game it can forgive me." #Suns pic.twitter.com/RKKpmYsvIJ
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 31, 2023
Ayton finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds in the contest, including ten points after the affair with Barnes, as the Suns defeated the Raptors in front of a sellout crowd of 17,071.
“I had a lot of grit coming into this game because I went into Toronto and stunk it up,” Ayton explained regarding the team's loss 113-104 loss to the Raptors on Dec. 30. “I came into this game wanting to just destroy them. Every time I got the ball, if you saw me, I was very animated on some of my misses when I went to the bench.”
Scottie Barnes finished the game with 16 points for the Toronto Raptors, missing all four of his three-point attempts, while grabbing seven rebounds and adding five assists.
“I was just so frustrated. Like forget about being fouled, I think I was just going up a little too soft with every shot I took,” Ayton continued. “Normally, this ain’t happening to me. I saw what I was shooting at half and I didn’t like it, so I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to put my head down and just try to be as greedy as possible.'”
Deandre Ayton certainly came to play for the Phoenix Suns this time around, and his determination shone through in the team's tight victory on Monday night.
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