Suns’ Deandre Ayton out for second straight game with left knee soreness

The Phoenix Suns will be without center Deandre Ayton for the second straight game as the Suns face the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.

Head coach Monty Williams said pregame Saturday that there is no update on when Ayton will return to Phoenix’s lineup.

The Suns big man did not play in Thursday’s victory against the Portland Blazers as he is still battling soreness in his left knee.

Forwards Dario Šarić and Frank Kaminsky filled in for Ayton against the Blazers.

“Last game we held a team to one offensive rebound which is really, really hard to do,” Williams said via Zoom. “I don’t expect that every night. But when we put our minds to something, we can do it.”

Phoenix out rebounded the Blazers on Thursday by a total of 42-33 and contained Portland center Enes Kanter to just one offensive rebound.

Williams went on to say that he is looking at his forwards to bring the same level of intensity to Saturday’s matchup.

“One of the components of our defense is getting our wings and guards in there to rebound and not leaking out,” Williams said. “I thought we had a number of plays the other night where a guard or wing tapped the ball to his teammate, and then that allowed for us to finish up possession.”

With Ayton still sidelined due to injury, the Suns will also be without Adel Nader and Cam Johnson.

Phoenix will wrap up their regular season this weekend with back-to-back games against the San Antonio Spurs.

Catch all the action on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station at 11 a.m. as the Suns look for their 50th win of the season.