Duane Washington Jr. Not Backing Down
The Phoenix Suns would love to be at full strength.
In Sunday night's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Suns were without Devin Booker (groin), Chris Paul (hip), Cam Payne (foot) and Cam Johnson (knee).
Timetables vary on the prospects of each returning, and with Jae Crowder still occupying a spot on the roster, the Suns have required a handful of players to step into larger than expected roles at this point of the season.
Enter: Duane Washington Jr., who signed a two-way deal with Phoenix back in August and has now found himself playing somewhat regular minutes as guys ahead of him have missed time.
Sunday night's 25 points from him paced Phoenix in scoring, becoming the third time this season the 22-year-old has hit 20+ points.
Suns coach Monty Williams offered praise on his ability to fight through adversity despite some mishaps through the night.
“I think he’s, with where we are, he’s doing a good job. There are times where he gets himself into trouble, deep in the paint. He had a couple of turnovers that he could’ve avoided but I don’t want him playing fearful or worrying about making mistakes even though you want him to have some balance, but we needed his scoring tonight," Williams said.
"I was about to take him out of the game in the second with about three minutes to go and he hit some buckets that helped us gets some momentum going into halftime so I’m proud of his heart. I am proud of the way he is playing. This summer you would never have pegged him to be playing this type of a role for us in January and he has not backed off at all.”
Washington, still young and very prone to mistakes, is trying to find the balance of everything:
"I love getting better, I love the struggle, I love the greatness of it. The good and the bad you have to love it all," he said following Sunday's loss.
"It sucks losing, sucks turning the ball over in crunch time, sucks making the wrong play at the wrong time. I am a real confident guy and have an unconscious ability to move forward. Got to continue to get better; they believe in me. Coaches believe in me; I believe in myself at the highest level. I am going to keep getting better for my teammates for sure.”
Playing point guard (especially in Phoenix) requires a strong mindset of when to push the tempo and when to slow things down. Washington says he's looking forward to the team's upcoming four-game road trip:
“It is going to be a great trip; continue to keep putting days together. Focus, watch film and learn. Like I said, man, it is a blessing to be in this position. I am super grateful for it. I just can’t wait to get better and keep growing. Like I said, I love it so much. I am going to keep putting my head down and go to work. Listen to my big bro, listen to the coaches and just apply what they are telling and teaching me," he said.
Washington has arguably been the Suns' top player at times. As Phoenix looks to right the ship in a hurry, he may be relied on more heavily until the team regains full health.
