Monty Williams went a little left during Wednesday’s season opener against the Dallas Mavericks and is explaining why he did so.
The Phoenix Suns head coach Williams made the bold decision to bench star point guard Chris Paul for the final 6:41 of the fourth quarter against Dallas. Instead, backup Cameron Payne closed out the game for Phoenix. Another starter, Cameron Johnson, was also absent for the last 9:35 of the game as the newly-signed Damion Lee got the crunchtime minutes on the wing next to Devin Booker.
Williams’ gamble paid off — the Suns came storming back from a 22-point deficit (which was still 11 points when Paul exited the game for good) and won a 107-105 shocker. Payne hit a couple of big buckets down the stretch, and Lee contributed 11 massive fourth-quarter points, including the game-winner with 9.7 seconds left.
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After the game, Williams explained the decision to bench Paul, the team’s respected veteran leader. Williams said Paul usually sits at the six-minute mark and comes back three minutes later, per Suns writer Gerald Bourguet. However, Williams decided to stick with Payne since Payne was in a rhythm.
There is little doubt that Williams made the correct decision here. Though Paul handed out nine assists, he shot just 1-for-6 from the field and finished with a team-worst plus-minus of -9. Dallas is also a bad matchup for Paul, who drew 6-foot-6 Spencer Dinwiddie on defense and got switched onto other bigger players like Luka Doncic and Reggie Bullock as well.
But it is jolting to see Paul, a 12-time All-Star who is making $28.4 million this year, finishing out a game on the bench. There is also an extra layer of scrutiny whenever star players are forced to sit as we have recently seen elsewhere in the Suns’ division too.
