PHOENIX SUNS

Suns’ Tyler Ulis just misses triple-double; joins impressive statistical group

Apr 3, 2017, 8:17 AM | Updated: Apr 4, 2017, 3:35 pm

Phoenix Suns guard Tyler Ulis advances the ball up court against the Houston Rockets during the sec...

Phoenix Suns guard Tyler Ulis advances the ball up court against the Houston Rockets during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 2, 2017, in Phoenix. The Rockets defeated the Suns 123-116. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

(AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

If you’re a fan of the Phoenix Suns and rooting for the team to win games down the stretch, well, you’re not going to get many of those.

The Suns’ front office has shut down a handful of veteran players to further evaluate younger talent and *cough improve their draft lottery situation *cough.

Phoenix lost its 12th straight game Sunday, 123-116, to a Houston Rockets team playing without MVP candidate James Harden, Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza.

With increased playing time, several younger Suns have stood out, but none more than rookie point guard Tyler Ulis.

The 5-foot-10 spark plug had his best game as a pro Sunday, scoring 34 points while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out nine assists, narrowly missing his first triple-double.

The Suns efforted to get Ulis his triple-double, but it just wasn’t to be.

“They told me late,” he said. “It was a little too late to get it.”

Head coach Earl Watson, who got heat league-wide for calling timeouts and fouling late in Devin Booker’s 70-point game in Boston last month, wanted Ulis to reach his marks, too.

“It’s hard to do that with Tyler — you can’t really tell him to go get a rebound, he has to search them out,” Watson said. “Tyler’s just got to find them. But to have nine rebounds is big for him. Assists, that comes naturally to him.”

Even though Ulis didn’t get the assist or rebound he needed, he still joined a pretty impressive group of NBA stars. The Kentucky product is only the seventh player in the league this season to have a game with at least 34 points, nine boards and nine assists, joining the likes of Harden, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook.

Ulis has been productive since being inserted in the starting lineup on March 15. In his 11 starts, Ulis has averaged over 40 minutes of playing time while putting up 14.8 points and 9.1 assists per contest. While he has opened eyes around the league, his head coach knew what he could do.

“I knew Tyler could be special quickly,” Watson said. “If you watched us play in Summer League, he showed flashes.”

Ulis, who has been undersized at every level of competitive basketball, is just doing what he does.

“I’m just trying to prove to myself and everybody else that I can play,” he said. “Other people’s opinions don’t really matter to me, I’m just trying to stick within the team and trying to get some wins.”

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