2009–10_Phoenix_Suns_season

2009–10 Phoenix Suns season

2009–10 Phoenix Suns season

Summary of the season


The 2009–10 Phoenix Suns season was the 42nd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Head coach Alvin Gentry (who coached the Suns the final 31 games of the previous season) was looking to reinstill in the Suns their offensive tendencies of seasons past: using the strengths of Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire. A season-and-a-half experiment with Shaquille O'Neal ended in the summer before the season. With this subtraction and the retention of Jason Richardson, the Suns were primed for a return to the playoffs after a one-season absence. Phoenix would be the only team in the league to post a three-point field goal percentage of 40% or more while leading the NBA in scoring at 110 points per contest. They would return to the playoffs, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in six games in the First Round and sweeping the rivaled San Antonio Spurs in four games in the Semifinals. Returning to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in four seasons, the Suns met the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, but lost the series in six games to the defending and eventual NBA champions. The Suns had the best team offensive rating in the NBA.[1]

Quick Facts Phoenix Suns season, Head coach ...

Following the season, Stoudemire signed as a free agent with the New York Knicks, and General Manager Steve Kerr left to return as a commentator for TNT.

This would be the last time the Suns reached the playoffs until their 2020–21 season, ending the second-longest active NBA post-season appearance drought at that time.

Key dates

Offseason

NBA draft

More information Round, Pick ...

Roster

More information Players, Coaches ...

Roster notes

  • Small forward Taylor Griffin only played 8 games and didn't play for the majority of the season and the playoffs.

Pre-season

More information ; road: 3–2–0) ...

Regular season

Standings

More information W, L ...
More information #, Team ...

Record vs. opponents

More information Team, ATL ...

Game log

More information Game, Date ...

Playoffs

The Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games in the first round. They swept the San Antonio Spurs in four games in the Western Conference semifinals, defeating them for the second time in 10 years, after having been eliminated by them in recent seasons four times in five playoff series. The Suns would face the Pacific division-winners Los Angeles Lakers, also the West's top seed, in the Western Conference finals, but lose the series in six games.

Game log

More information 2010 playoff game log, Game ...

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season

More information Player, GP ...

* – Stats with the Suns.
† – Minimum 300 field goals made.
+ – Minimum 70 games played or 100 blocks.

Playoffs

More information Player, GP ...

† – Minimum 20 field goals made.
^ – Minimum 10 free throws made.

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Week/Month

  • Alvin Gentry (West Coach of the Month – November 2009)
  • Alvin Gentry (West Coach of the Month – March 2010)
  • Amar'e Stoudemire (West Player of the Month – March 2010)

All-Star

Season

  • Nash and Stoudemire were named to the All-NBA Second Team.[2]
  • Nash led the league in two statistical categories: assists per game (11.0) and free throw percentage (93.8%).

Milestones

  • On January 16, 2010, Stoudemire scored his 10,000th career point in a loss to the Charlotte Bobcats.[3]
  • On January 26, 2010, Nash became the eighth player in NBA history to surpass 8,000 assists in the Suns' loss to the Utah Jazz.[4]

Injuries and surgeries

Transactions

Trades

June
June 25, 2009
To Cleveland Cavaliers
Shaquille O'Neal
To Phoenix Suns
Ben Wallace
Sasha Pavlovic
Second round pick in the 2010 NBA draft
$500,000
June 26, 2009 To Phoenix Suns
Cash considerations
To Cleveland Cavaliers
Rights to Emir Preldžič (57th overall in 2009 NBA draft)

Free agents

Additions

On July 11, the Suns re-signed Grant Hill and Louis Amundson. On July 13, the Suns signed a two-year contract with former University of Arizona center Channing Frye.[5]


References

  1. "Offensive Rating". NBA.com. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  2. "Best on offense (Durant), defense (Howard) pace All-NBA team". NBA. May 6, 2010. Archived from the original on May 9, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  3. "Suns reach two-year agreement with Frye". NBA. July 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 16, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2009.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 2009–10_Phoenix_Suns_season, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.