Suns' Jock Landale 'Sick of People S--tting on' Deandre Ayton amid Playoff Criticism

Phoenix Suns center Jock Landale stood up for teammate Deandre Ayton on Saturday against criticism for Ayton's play during the postseason.

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Landale called Ayton a "great locker room guy," and he added: "I'm sick of people s--tting on DA."

Suns head coach Monty Williams played Landale over Ayton down the stretch during Phoenix's much-needed 121-114 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series Friday.

Ayton finished the game with just four points on 2-of-6 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, one block and four personal fouls in 26 minutes.

Landale—a 27-year-old Aussie—played just 14.2 minutes per game during the regular season and 11.3 minutes per game in the playoffs, but he received 22 minutes Friday night.

He made all three of his field-goal attempts and finished with six points, nine rebounds and one steal in the win.

Ayton has primarily taken flak for failing to slow down Nuggets superstar center and two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić during the second round thus far.

Denver won each of the first two games of the series by double digits, and in three games against the Suns thus far, Jokić is averaging 31.0 points, 17.3 rebounds and 9.0 assists per contest while shooting 52.9 percent from the field.

Ayton has been a productive player throughout his five-year NBA career, but it can be argued that he hasn't lived up to his status as a No. 1 overall draft pick.

In 303 career regular-season games, the 6'11" big man owns averages of 16.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 blocks. He has also shot 59.7 percent from the floor.

Ayton was right around his career averages in 67 games this season, averaging 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.8 blocks.

His production has been down a bit in the playoffs with averages of 14.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.6 blocks per contest.

During the offseason, it seemed possible that Ayton and the Suns would part ways since they were at a contract impasse and Phoenix seemingly didn't want to give him a max extension.

Even so, the Suns matched the four-year, $133 million offer sheet Ayton signed with the Indiana Pacers, keeping him in Phoenix.

That means the Suns have a lot of money invested in Ayton over the next few years, which is why it raised some eyebrows when Landale was playing key minutes over him.

It is unclear if Williams intends to stick with Landale as his primary center, but if the Suns are going to overcome a 2-1 series deficit and potentially make a run to the NBA Finals, they will undoubtedly need more out of Ayton.