The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE learning curve of Deandre Ayton was apparent in his second NBA appearance against the Denver Nuggets.

Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic got the better of Ayton for much of the night and produced one of the best statistical performances of his career in the Suns’ 119-91 loss to the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday.

Jokic finished with 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists and was a perfect 11-11 from the field.

“I learned a lot,” Ayton told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic following the game. “Didn’t get a chance to show my end of the bargain, but you live and you learn. It was a good learning lesson of how to really draw fouls on big men and live at the line. Jokic is a student of the game and he knows the game pretty well on how to get to the line,” Ayton added.

Jokic used an array of post moves to neutralise Ayton early in foul trouble. He finished with five points, eight rebounds and five fouls.

Ayton was listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury but said he felt no lingering effects moving forward and did not expect to miss any playing time.

“It’s part of the league,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “He’ll learn from it. He’ll be fine. Jokic is a very talented player, obviously. All-star potential. He learned that tonight.”

To place his performance into historical context, Jokic joined Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to post a triple-double with 30 or more points without missing a field goal.

“Individually and collectively, we got spanked in every aspect of the game,” Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov said. “(Jokic) had a monster game. He played really well. We lost that matchup, but (we lost) a lot of other matchups, too.

“Overall, it was a real poor performance in a lot of different areas,” added Kokoskov.

The Suns face the Golden State Warriors tonight at 10:30pm local time.