NBA 2018-19: DeAndre Ayton touched a unique record after the game against the Nets
People have been talking about Luka Doncic as the rookie of the year for quite some time now. But people for forgetting about the #1 pick of this year's draft by the Phoenix Suns, DeAndre Ayton.
Every rookie passes through a transitional phase when they come from the college into the NBA. There often have been cases in which players who were picked #1 in the NBA draft were not able to pick up the pace with the level of the NBA. They just did not perform at this level. Anthony Bennet is one of the examples of such players who are regarded as a Bust.
But DeAndre Ayton is no way such a player! He had a little slump at the start of the season, which is usually expected of the rookies. But with every game that Ayton is playing, he is proving how dangerous a player he is, and will be in future. He is averaging 16.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 0.9 blocks. He is shooting at 59.9% from the field and playing almost 31 minutes per game.
Now, let's talk about his last two games- against Wizards and the Nets. Against the Wizards, he scored 26 points and 17 rebounds. He played 39 minutes in the game as the game went to overtime with Wizards beating Suns by 3 points.
Against the Nets, he scored 26 points and 17rebounds. He played for 32 minutes and had three blocks.
These two performances make him touch a unique record.
Deandre Ayton becomes the first rookie to record at least 25 points and 15 rebounds in consecutive games since Tim Duncan did so in April 1998.
Check out the tweet below by Justin Kubatko:
In the last three games, he is averaging 25 points and 18 rebounds, and these games also include the game against the Celtics where he dropped 23 points and 18 rebounds.
Simply put, we need to start considering Ayton in the rookie of the year talks as he is no joke. He will dominate games as he will get more and more comfortable in the league.