Deandre Ayton stuffed the preseason stat sheet with 24 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, and made his presence felt, but not everything went his way Monday night against Sacramento.
De’Aaron Fox rose up, double-clutched the ball and scored over the 7-footer in traffic.
Fellow rookie Marvin Bagley III rejected him in the paint.
Then, with Phoenix down a point late, Ayton got the ball on the high post and tried to drive on Bagley, but lost the ball, or got it blocked, with 44.3 seconds remaining.
That’s living and learning in the moment, but Ayton was thankful for the opportunity to win the game at the end.