Why is Ayton not playing?
Rib contusion. Sounds a bit serious, it's impacting his movements and breathing too according to reports
Hmm, I've always thought/heard that rib contusions were more a pain tolerance issue. Wouldn't surprise me if other stuff is going on with all the controversy surrounding Ayton and this team.
That said, he is a big, and they do have a lot of bumping and grinding down low. So it's certainly possible it really kept him out.
So I'm not going to accuse a guy of "quitting", but I will say Ayton has been such a frustrating player in this league. All the talent in the world, but his head isn't always in the game and he's very inconsistent. Even Monty, who by all accounts is an awesome coach gets annoyed with him and at times has called him out to the media. I think the Pacers may have lucked out that the Suns matched the contract offer. If Ayton was consistent and played to his abilities, the Suns could have been a juggernaut even with CP3 out the last few games.
I know the Warriors-Lakers series isn't over, but if LAL advances then I'm glad it's Denver and not Phoenix. Because AD and their frontcourt would abuse Ayton. At least with the Nugs you have Jokic and AG who can present unique problems. DEN will definitely give GSW/LAL a good fight and probably win the series if Murray and MPJ can keep it up alongside Jokic
