2005–06 Phoenix Suns season
| 2005–06 Phoenix Suns season | |
|---|---|
Division champions | |
| Head coach | Mike D'Antoni |
| General manager | Bryan Colangelo, Mike D'Antoni |
| Owners | Robert Sarver |
| Arena | America West Arena, US Airways Center |
| Results | |
| Record | 54–28 (.659) |
| Place | Division: 1st Conference: 3rd |
| Playoff finish | Lost in Conference Finals to Dallas (2–4) |
| Local media | |
| Television | FSN Arizona, KUTP |
| Radio | KTAR |
The 2005–06 Phoenix Suns season was the 38th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Suns were led by head coach Mike D'Antoni, posting a 54–28 record, second best in the Western Conference. All home games were played at the former America West Arena, which changed its name to US Airways Center in January 2006.
The Suns looked to improve on their league best 62–20 record and a trip to the Western Conference Finals in the 2004–05 season. The Suns suffered a major setback before the season, when All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire underwent microfracture surgery on his left knee. Stoudemire would return for just 3 games, before undergoing another surgery on his right knee. The team was led by defending MVP Steve Nash and All-Star Shawn Marion. Marion would lead the team in points (21.8), rebounds (11.8), steals (2.0) and blocks (1.7) per game. Nash would lead the league in assists with 10.5 a game, while posting a career high 18.8 points a game, earning his second consecutive MVP award.
With injuries to Stoudemire and backup forward/center Kurt Thomas, the Suns looked to second year forward Boris Diaw to fill in the middle. Listed in the Suns media guide as a guard before the season, the 6'8" Diaw would start at small forward, power forward and center throughout the season, posting 13 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and a block a game, earning Most Improved Player honors.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Suns fell into a 1–3 hole against their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers. They would become just the at the time eighth team in NBA history to recover from a 3–1 deficit, winning the final three games of the series to advance to the Semifinals. They would defeat the Lakers' Staples Center co-tenants, the Los Angeles Clippers, in another hard-fought seven-game series. The Suns eventually fell in the Conference Finals to the Dallas Mavericks in six games.[1]
Offseason
NBA Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Nate Robinson | Guard |  United States
|
Washington |
| 2 | 57 | Marcin Gortat | Center |  Poland
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Roster
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Depth chart
| Pos. | Starter | Bench | Reserve | Inactive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Boris Diaw | Pat Burke | Kurt Thomas  |
Amar'e Stoudemire
|
| PF | Shawn Marion | Brian Grant | Nikoloz Tskitishvili | |
| SF | Tim Thomas | James Jones | ||
| SG | Raja Bell | Leandro Barbosa | Dijon Thompson
| |
| PG | Steve Nash | Eddie House |
Regular season
Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | - | 31–10 | 23–18 | 10–6 |
| x-Los Angeles Clippers | 47 | 35 | .573 | 7 | 27–14 | 20–21 | 7–9 |
| x-Los Angeles Lakers | 45 | 37 | .549 | 9 | 27–14 | 18–23 | 9–7 |
| x-Sacramento Kings | 44 | 38 | .537 | 10 | 27–14 | 17–24 | 10–6 |
| Golden State Warriors | 34 | 48 | .415 | 20 | 21–20 | 13–28 | 4–12 |
Playoffs
Game log
Awards and honors
Week/Month
- Shawn Marion was named Western Conference Player of the Month for February.
- Steve Nash was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played November 21 through November 27.
- Shawn Marion was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played December 26 through January 1.
- Steve Nash was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played January 2 through January 8.
All-Star
- Steve Nash was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his fourth All-Star selection. Nash finished second in voting among Western Conference guards with 1,818,230 votes.
- Shawn Marion was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his third All-Star selection. Marion finished ninth in voting among Western Conference forwards with 285,505 votes.
- Raja Bell was selected to compete in the Three-Point Shootout. Bell did not participate due to personal issues and was replaced by Gilbert Arenas.
- Steve Nash was selected to compete in the Skills Challenge. Nash lost the competition to Dwyane Wade.
- Team Phoenix, consisting of Shawn Marion, Kelly Miller and Dan Majerle, competed in the Shooting Stars Competition, losing to Team San Antonio.
Season
- Steve Nash received the Most Valuable Player Award.
- Boris Diaw received the Most Improved Player Award.
- Steve Nash was named to the All-NBA First Team.
- Shawn Marion was named to the All-NBA Third Team. Marion also finished seventh in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
- Steve Nash led the league in assists per game with a 10.5 average, and total assists with 826.
- Steve Nash led the league in free throw percentage, making 92.1% of his attempts.
- Raja Bell finished 13th in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and 23rd in Most Improved Player voting.
- Leandro Barbosa finished seventh in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
- Eddie House finished 13th in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
Player statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
Season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leandro Barbosa | 57 | 11 | 27.9 | .481 | .444 | .755 | 2.6 | 2.8 | .8 | .1 | 13.1 |
| Andre Barrett* | 2 | 0 | 10.5 | .429 | .000 | 1.000^ | 1.5 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 4.5 |
| Raja Bell | 79 | 79 | 37.5 | .457 | .442 | .788 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 1.0 | .3 | 14.7 |
| Pat Burke | 42 | 0 | 8.2 | .496 | .286 | .619 | 1.7 | 0.4 | .1 | .3 | 3.4 |
| Josh Davis* | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | .333 | .000 | .667 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | .0 | 4.0 |
| Boris Diaw | 81 | 70 | 35.5 | .526† | .267 | .731 | 6.9 | 6.2 | .7 | 1.0 | 13.3 |
| Sharrod Ford | 3 | 0 | 4.3 | .667† | . | . | 1.0 | 0.0 | .0 | .3 | 1.3 |
| Brian Grant | 21 | 2 | 11.8 | .415 | . | .875 | 2.7 | 0.3 | .2 | .1 | 2.9 |
| Eddie House | 81 | 0 | 17.5 | .422 | .389 | .805 | 1.6 | 1.8 | .5 | .1 | 9.8 |
| Jim Jackson* | 27 | 1 | 15.6 | .295 | .222 | .692 | 2.4 | 1.1 | .4 | .2 | 3.7 |
| James Jones | 75 | 24 | 23.6 | .418 | .386 | .851 | 3.4 | 0.8 | .5 | .7 | 9.3 |
| Shawn Marion | 81 | 81 | 40.3 | .525 | .331 | .809 | 11.8 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 21.8 |
| Steve Nash | 79 | 79 | 35.4 | .512 | .439 | .921^ | 4.2 | 10.5 | .8 | .2 | 18.8 |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | 3 | 3 | 16.7 | .333 | .000 | .889 | 5.3 | 0.7 | .3 | 1.0 | 8.7 |
| Kurt Thomas | 53 | 50 | 26.6 | .486 | . | .815 | 7.8 | 1.1 | .4 | 1.0 | 8.6 |
| Tim Thomas* | 26 | 10 | 24.4 | .435 | .429 | .667 | 4.9 | 0.7 | .6 | .2 | 11.0 |
| Dijon Thompson | 10 | 0 | 4.3 | .440 | .364 | 1.000^ | 1.1 | 0.1 | .3 | .1 | 2.8 |
| Nikoloz Tskitishvili* | 12 | 0 | 7.2 | .364 | .333 | .667 | 1.7 | 0.3 | .1 | .2 | 2.8 |
* – Stats with the Suns.
† – Minimum 300 field goals made.
^ – Minimum 125 free throws made.
Playoffs
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leandro Barbosa | 20 | 3 | 31.6 | .470 | .391 | .862 | 1.6 | 2.7 | .8 | .2 | 14.2 |
| Raja Bell | 17 | 17 | 39.6 | .479 | .465^ | .829 | 2.8 | 2.2 | .6 | .2 | 13.6 |
| Pat Burke | 3 | 0 | 2.3 | .500 | .500^ | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | .0 | .3 | 1.7 |
| Boris Diaw | 20 | 20 | 39.8 | .526 | .429 | .761 | 6.7 | 5.2 | .9 | 1.1 | 18.7 |
| Brian Grant | 5 | 0 | 2.4 | .333 | . | .000 | 0.4 | 0.0 | .0 | .0 | 0.4 |
| Eddie House | 14 | 0 | 9.3 | .365 | .214 | .750 | 0.6 | 0.4 | .1 | .1 | 3.1 |
| James Jones | 20 | 6 | 17.7 | .341 | .308 | .846 | 3.6 | 0.3 | .3 | .9 | 4.3 |
| Shawn Marion | 20 | 20 | 42.5 | .489 | .314 | .881 | 11.7 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 20.4 |
| Steve Nash | 20 | 20 | 39.9 | .502 | .368 | .912 | 3.7 | 10.2 | .4 | .3 | 20.4 |
| Kurt Thomas | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | . | . | .500 | 1.0 | 0.0 | .0 | .0 | 1.0 |
| Tim Thomas | 20 | 14 | 31.8 | .491 | .444 | .776 | 6.3 | 1.3 | .9 | .4 | 15.1 |
| Nikoloz Tskitishvili | 4 | 0 | 2.0 | .000 | .000 | .500 | 0.3 | 0.5 | .0 | .0 | 0.3 |
^ – Minimum 5 three-pointers made.