The Valley Suns’ TyTy Washington Jr. goes up for a layup against the Texas Legends Friday. His team has clinched a playoff berth in its first year. (Photo by Jimmy Van Wickler/Cronkite News)
TEMPE – While the Phoenix Suns continue to cling to the final threads of their playoff hopes, their G League affiliate is gearing up for a postseason appearance in the team’s first season.
Led by TyTy Washington Jr.’s near triple double – 25 points, nine rebounds and nine assists – the Valley Suns clinched a G League playoff berth by closing out the regular season Friday with a 134-107 victory over the Texas Legends on Fan Appreciation Night at Mullett Arena.
The victory put the final touch on a 20-14 inaugural season.
“We are really blessed with a good group of guys,” Valley Suns coach John Little said. “I am just really excited for our fans and for our guys. (It’s our) first year, a new organization, competing in the (Winter Showcase) Cup and now being involved in the playoffs.”
The Valley Suns open the playoffs against the Santa Cruz Warriors – the G League affiliate of the NBA Golden State Warriors – in a single-elimination first round game at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California Tuesday night.
“I love how we are finishing the season,” Valley Suns forward Nate Pierre-Louis said. “These last couple of games have been a lot of close games, and I think it is building us for the playoffs.”
The Phoenix Suns were the only NBA franchise without a team in the developmental G League before owner Mat Ishbia bought the Suns and announced he would make adding a G League affiliate a priority. The Suns previously had a G League team in Prescott Valley, but sold the Northern Arizona Suns to the Detroit Pistons in 2021.
The Suns finished the season in a three way tie with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and Santa Cruz. The Suns and the Warriors were each 2-0 against the Vipers, which dropped Rio Grande to the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. The Valley Suns and Warriors had to go through multiple tie breaking scenarios to determine that Santa Cruz would get the No. 4 seed and a first-round home game.
Having a G League affiliate allows NBA teams to sign players to two-way contracts. Those players can bounce back and forth between the G League and the NBA, although two-way players are limited to 45 days with the parent club during the season.
Several two-way players have had an impact on both teams this season, including TyTy Washington Jr. and Jalen Bridges, who were prominent in the Valley Suns’ playoff push
Meanwhile, two-way point guard Collin Gilespie has been a starter for the Phoenix Suns in the last seven games with Bradley Beal sidelined because of a hamstring injury and is not expected to be available to the Valley Suns against Santa Cruz.
Valley Suns mascot Ray prepares to interact with supporters of the team on fan appreciation night. The team is trying to find its place in a heavily populated sports community. (Photo by Jimmy Van Wickler/Cronkite News)
Gillespie has started only 10 games for the Valley Suns, however it is unlikely he will be on the Phoenix Suns playoff roster should the NBA team sneak into the postseason. Adding Gillespie would require the NBA team to cut one of 15 players on the roster.
Bridges has started the most games out of the two-way players, getting the nod from Little 31 times for the Valley Suns. Bridges averaged 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists during the G League season.
Washington Jr. has started 21 games for the Valley Suns and also had a short stint with the Phoenix Suns, coming off the bench. Washington Jr. has averaged 22.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists this season in the G League.
The G League playoffs is formatted differently than the NBA playoffs as teams go through a single elimination tournament based on seeding until the NBA G League finals. The top two seeds get first round byes and go right through to the conference semifinals. The NBA G League final pits the Western Conference winner against the Eastern Conference champion in a best-of-three series.
The Suns and Warriors played twice during the regular season, splitting the season series. They also finished with the same record against playoff teams in the Western Conference at 6-4. The Warriors won on the next tiebreaker with a better winning record against Eastern Conference teams – 4-2 versus the Suns’ 3-3 mark.
Coming off a close loss to the Mexico City Capitanes, the Suns went into their regular-season finale against Texas looking to finish the regular season off with a victory and to clinch a playoff spot.
They won impressively.
Paul Watson, an Arizona native who played at Paradise Valley High, got the Suns off to a hot start, scoring 20 of his 26 points during a 65-point Valley first half. He hit six 3-point shots in the half and went on to make eight of 11 attempts from long range.
The Legends started to close the gap, drawing to within 10 points heading to the fourth quarter.
The Suns regained control in the fourth, dominating at both ends of the court in a 40-23 quarter. Suns guard Alex Schumacher, who was acquired on March 5 via trade from the Windy City Bulls, led the fourth-quarter surge, scoring 10 of his 15 points in the quarter to help provide separation.
The Suns finished the game with five players scoring 10 or more points, led by Jaden Shackelford’s team-high 27.
“I think the guys are doing such a good job at getting me caught up,” Schumacher said. “I think that this is going to be a good win for us and kind of just carry us into the playoffs.”