| 2009–10 Phoenix Suns season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Alvin Gentry | ||
| President | Steve Kerr | ||
| General manager | Steve Kerr | ||
| Owner | Robert Sarver | ||
| Arena | US Airways Center | ||
| Results | |||
| Record | 54–28 (.659) | ||
| Place | Division: 2nd (Pacific) Conference: 3rd (Western) | ||
| Playoff finish | Western Conference Finals (lost toLakers 2–4) | ||
Stats atBasketball Reference | |||
| Local media | |||
| Television | Fox Sports Arizona,KUTP | ||
| Radio | KTAR | ||
| |||
The2009–10Phoenix Suns season was the 42nd season of the franchise in theNational Basketball Association (NBA).Head coachAlvin Gentry (who coached the Suns the final 31 games of the previous season) was looking to reinstill in the Suns their offensive tendencies of seasons past: using the strengths ofSteve Nash andAmar'e Stoudemire. A season-and-a-half experiment withShaquille O'Neal ended in the summer before the season. With this subtraction and the retention ofJason Richardson, the Suns were primed for a return to the playoffs after a one-season absence. Phoenix would be the only team in the league to post athree-point field goal percentage of 40% or more while leading the NBA in scoring at 110 points per contest. They would return to theplayoffs, defeating thePortland Trail Blazers in six games in the First Round and sweeping therivaledSan Antonio Spurs in four games in the Semifinals. Returning to theWestern Conference Finals for the first time infour seasons, the Suns met the top-seededLos Angeles Lakers, but lost the series in six games to the defending and eventual NBA champions. The Suns had the best team offensive rating in the NBA.[1]
Following the season, Stoudemire signed as a free agent with theNew York Knicks, and General Manager Steve Kerr left to return as a commentator for TNT.
This would be the last time the Suns reached the playoffs until their2020–21 season, ending the second-longest active NBA post-season appearance drought at that time.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College / Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Earl Clark | Forward |  United States | Louisville |
| 2 | 48 | Taylor Griffin | Forward | United States | Oklahoma |
| 2 | 57 | Emir Preldžič | Forward |  Slovenia / Turkey | Fenerbahçe Ülker |
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Head coach Assistant(s) Legend
Roster |
| 2009 Pre-season game log: 4–4–0 (home: 1–2–0; road: 3–2–0) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Attendance | Record | Recap | ||
| 1 | October 6 | Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) | 111–80 | Phoenix Suns | ||||||
| 2 | October 10 (inIndian Wells, California) | Phoenix Suns | 101–104 | Golden State Warriors | ||||||
| 3 | October 12 | Phoenix Suns | 105–110 | Oklahoma City Thunder | ||||||
| 4 | October 14 | Phoenix Suns | 110–104 | Portland Trail Blazers | ||||||
| 5 | October 16 | Philadelphia 76ers | 115–113 | Phoenix Suns | ||||||
| 6 | October 18 (inMonterrey, Mexico) | Philadelphia 76ers | 94–116 | Phoenix Suns | ||||||
| 7 | October 20 | Sacramento Kings | 143–127 | Phoenix Suns | ||||||
| 8 | October 22 (inVancouver, BC) | Portland Trail Blazers | 93–113 | Phoenix Suns | ||||||
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c-Los Angeles Lakers | 57 | 25 | .695 | – | 34–7 | 23–18 | 13–3 |
| x-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | 3 | 32–9 | 22–19 | 12–4 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 29 | 53 | .354 | 28 | 21–20 | 8–33 | 5–11 |
| Golden State Warriors | 26 | 56 | .317 | 31 | 18–23 | 8–33 | 5–11 |
| Sacramento Kings | 25 | 57 | .305 | 32 | 18–23 | 7–34 | 5–11 |
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | c-Los Angeles Lakers | 57 | 25 | .695 | – |
| 2 | y-Dallas Mavericks | 55 | 27 | .671 | 2 |
| 3 | x-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | 3 |
| 4 | y-Denver Nuggets | 53 | 29 | .646 | 4 |
| 5 | x-Utah Jazz | 53 | 29 | .646 | 4 |
| 6 | x-Portland Trail Blazers | 50 | 32 | .610 | 7 |
| 7 | x-San Antonio Spurs | 50 | 32 | .610 | 7 |
| 8 | x-Oklahoma City Thunder | 50 | 32 | .610 | 7 |
| 9 | Houston Rockets | 42 | 40 | .512 | 15 |
| 10 | Memphis Grizzlies | 40 | 42 | .488 | 17 |
| 11 | New Orleans Hornets | 37 | 45 | .451 | 20 |
| 12 | Los Angeles Clippers | 29 | 53 | .354 | 28 |
| 13 | Golden State Warriors | 26 | 56 | .317 | 31 |
| 14 | Sacramento Kings | 25 | 57 | .305 | 32 |
| 15 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 15 | 67 | .183 | 42 |
The Suns defeated thePortland Trail Blazers in six games in the first round. They swept theSan Antonio Spurs in four games in the Western Conference semifinals, defeating them for the second time in 10 years, after having been eliminated by them in recent seasons four times in five playoff series. The Suns would face the Pacific division-winners Los Angeles Lakers, also the West's top seed, in the Western Conference finals, but lose the series in six games.
| 2010 playoff game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
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Conference Semifinals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0)
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Conference Finals: 2–4 (home: 2–1; road: 0–3)
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| 2010 playoff schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Amundson | 79 | 0 | 14.8 | .551 | .000 | .545 | 4.4 | 0.4 | .3 | .9 | 4.7 |
| Leandro Barbosa | 44 | 5 | 17.9 | .425 | .324 | .877 | 1.6 | 1.5 | .5 | .3 | 9.5 |
| Earl Clark | 51 | 0 | 7.5 | .371 | .400 | .722 | 1.2 | 0.4 | .1 | .3 | 2.7 |
| Jarron Collins | 34 | 10 | 7.7 | .387 | . | .400 | 1.8 | 0.2 | .1 | .1 | 1.0 |
| Jared Dudley | 82 | 1 | 24.3 | .459 | .458 | .754 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 1.0 | .2 | 8.2 |
| Goran Dragić | 80 | 2 | 18.0 | .452 | .394 | .736 | 2.1 | 3.0 | .6 | .1 | 7.9 |
| Channing Frye | 81 | 41 | 27.0 | .451 | .439 | .810 | 5.3 | 1.4 | .8 | .9 | 11.2 |
| Taylor Griffin | 8 | 0 | 4.0 | .400 | .000 | .500 | 0.3 | 0.1 | .0 | .3 | 1.3 |
| Grant Hill | 81 | 81 | 30.0 | .478 | .438 | .817 | 5.5 | 2.4 | .7 | .4 | 11.3 |
| Dwayne Jones | 2 | 0 | 3.5 | . | . | . | 1.0 | 0.0 | .0 | .0 | 0.0 |
| Robin Lopez | 51 | 31 | 19.3 | .588† | . | .704 | 4.9 | 0.1 | .2 | 1.0+ | 8.4 |
| Steve Nash | 81 | 81 | 32.8 | .507 | .426 | .938 | 3.3 | 11.0 | .5 | .1 | 16.5 |
| Jason Richardson | 79 | 76 | 31.5 | .474 | .393 | .739 | 5.1 | 1.8 | .8 | .4 | 15.7 |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | 82 | 82 | 34.6 | .557† | .167 | .771 | 8.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.0+ | 23.1 |
| Alando Tucker* | 11 | 0 | 6.5 | .433 | .143 | .762 | 0.6 | 0.3 | .0 | .0 | 3.9 |
* – Stats with the Suns.
† – Minimum 300 field goals made.
+ – Minimum 70 games played or 100 blocks.
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Amundson | 16 | 0 | 12.1 | .528† | . | .429 | 3.5 | 0.1 | .4 | .4 | 2.9 |
| Leandro Barbosa | 16 | 0 | 15.6 | .417 | .343 | .708 | 1.3 | 1.3 | .3 | .1 | 7.2 |
| Earl Clark | 3 | 0 | 4.3 | .333 | . | 1.000^ | 0.7 | 0.3 | .3 | .0 | 1.3 |
| Jarron Collins | 11 | 10 | 10.5 | .333 | . | 1.000^ | 1.5 | 0.0 | .1 | .1 | 1.1 |
| Goran Dragić | 16 | 0 | 14.8 | .430 | .325 | .742 | 1.8 | 2.3 | .3 | .1 | 7.6 |
| Jared Dudley | 16 | 0 | 23.6 | .465 | .424 | .607 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 1.1 | .4 | 7.6 |
| Channing Frye | 16 | 0 | 27.2 | .364 | .349 | .938^ | 5.6 | 0.9 | .8 | .6 | 8.2 |
| Grant Hill | 16 | 16 | 28.3 | .480 | .188 | .868 | 5.8 | 2.3 | .8 | .6 | 9.6 |
| Dwayne Jones | 2 | 0 | 5.0 | .500 | . | .750 | 2.5 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 2.5 |
| Robin Lopez | 6 | 6 | 17.3 | .543† | . | 1.000^ | 4.0 | .0 | .3 | .2 | 7.8 |
| Steve Nash | 16 | 16 | 33.7 | .518 | .380 | .893 | 3.3 | 10.1 | .3 | .1 | 17.8 |
| Jason Richardson | 16 | 16 | 33.3 | .502 | .475 | .759 | 5.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 | .3 | 19.8 |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | 16 | 16 | 36.5 | .519† | .000 | .754 | 6.6 | 1.1 | .7 | 1.5 | 22.2 |
† – Minimum 20 field goals made.
^ – Minimum 10 free throws made.
June | ||
June 25, 2009 | ToCleveland Cavaliers Shaquille O'Neal | To Phoenix Suns Ben Wallace
|
| June 26, 2009 | To Phoenix Suns Cash considerations | ToCleveland Cavaliers Rights toEmir Preldžič (57th overall in2009 NBA draft) |
On July 11, the Suns re-signedGrant Hill andLouis Amundson. On July 13, the Suns signed a two-year contract with formerUniversity of ArizonacenterChanning Frye.[5]
