1991–92 Phoenix Suns season

The 1991–92 Phoenix Suns season was the 24th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association.

Season summary

Off-season This was the Suns' final season in which they played their home games at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. During the off-season, the team acquired three-point specialist Trent Tucker from the New York Knicks; however, Tucker never played for the Suns as he was released to free agency, and later on signed with the San Antonio Spurs.

Regular season After a 3–2 start to the regular season, the Suns struggled posting a six-game losing streak, which led to a 3–8 start to the season. However, the team soon recovered by posting a nine-game winning streak between November and December, then later on posting a seven-game winning streak in January, and holding a 32–16 record at the All-Star break. The Suns posted a six-game winning streak between March and April, and finished in third place in the Pacific Division with a 53–29 record, which earned them the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Jeff Hornacek averaged 20.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while Kevin Johnson averaged 19.7 points, 10.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, and sixth man Dan Majerle provided the team with 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game off the bench. In addition, Tom Chambers contributed 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while Tim Perry showed improvement becoming the team's starting small forward averaging 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and Andrew Lang replaced Mark West as the team's starting center this season, averaging 7.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and leading the team with 2.5 blocks per game. Meanwhile, second-year forward Cedric Ceballos contributed 7.2 points per game, West averaged 6.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and second-year guard Negele Knight provided with 5.8 points and 2.7 assists per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, Hornacek and Majerle were both selected for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was the first All-Star appearance for both players, and the only All-Star appearance for Hornacek. In addition, Hornacek also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, and Ceballos won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Johnson finished in 15th place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Majerle finished in third place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and Perry finished tied in sixth place in Most Improved Player voting.

The Suns finished 17th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 594,327 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum during the regular season.

NBA playoffs In the Western Conference First Round of the 1992 NBA playoffs, the Suns faced off against the 5th–seeded Spurs, who were led by Terry Cummings, Sean Elliott and Rod Strickland. The Spurs were without All-Star center, and Defensive Player of the Year, David Robinson, who was out due to a season-ending thumb injury. The Suns won the first two games over the Spurs at home at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, before winning Game 3 on the road, 101–92 at the HemisFair Arena to win the series in a three-game sweep.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the top–seeded, and Pacific Division champion Portland Trail Blazers, a team that featured All-Star guard Clyde Drexler, All-Star guard Terry Porter, and Jerome Kersey. The Trail Blazers took a 2–0 series lead, but the Suns managed to win Game 3 at home, 124–117 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. After losing Game 4 at home in double-overtime, 153–151, the Suns lost Game 5 to the Trail Blazers on the road, 118–106 at the Memorial Coliseum, thus losing the series in five games.

The Trail Blazers would lose in six games to the defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls in the 1992 NBA Finals.

Aftermath Following the season, Hornacek, Perry and Lang were all traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, after Hornacek spent six seasons with the Suns, and head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons resigned, ending his four-season second stint as coach of the Suns.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 2 32 Chad Gallagher Center Creighton 2 46 Richard Dumas Forward Oklahoma State 2 50 Joey Wright Guard Texas None of the three players that the Suns selected in the 1991 NBA draft would play with the Suns this season. Both Chad Gallagher and Joey Wright were cut from the team before the regular season began, while Richard Dumas showcased promising talents early on in training camp, but was suspended from the team for the entire season due to substance abuse violations. Dumas would, however, return to the Suns to play what became his proper rookie season the following season afterward.

Roster

Roster Notes Rookie small forward Richard Dumas was suspended for violating the NBA's substance abuse policy.

Regular season

Season standings

y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot

z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

Game log

| 1 | May 5 | @ Portland | L 111–113 | Kevin Johnson (24) | Chambers, Johnson (8) | Jeff Hornacek (12) | Memorial Coliseum12,888 | 0–1 |- | 2 | May 7 | @ Portland | L 119–126 | Kevin Johnson (35) | Jeff Hornacek (11) | Dan Majerle (6) | Memorial Coliseum12,888 | 0–2 |- | 3 | May 9 | Portland | W 124–117 | Jeff Hornacek (30) | Majerle, Perry (9) | Kevin Johnson (16) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum14,496 | 1–2 |- | 4 | May 11 | Portland | L 151–153 (2OT) | Kevin Johnson (35) | Dan Majerle (11) | Kevin Johnson (14) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum14,496 | 1–3 |- | 5 | May 14 | @ Portland | L 106–118 | Chambers, Perry (19) | Tom Chambers (8) | Kevin Johnson (6) | Memorial Coliseum12,888 | 1–4

Awards and honors

Week/Month Jeff Hornacek was named Player of the Month for December. Cotton Fitzsimmons was named Coach of the Month for December.

All-Star Jeff Hornacek was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first and only All-Star selection. Hornacek finished seventh in voting among Western Conference guards with 271,180 votes. Dan Majerle was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his first All-Star selection. Other Suns players receiving All-Star votes were Tom Chambers (406,185) and Kevin Johnson (309,820). Cedric Ceballos won the Slam Dunk Contest, winning the competition with the famous "Hocus Pocus" blindfolded dunk. Jeff Hornacek participated in the Three-Point Shootout, losing to champion and former Suns teammate Craig Hodges.

Season Kevin Johnson was named to the All-NBA Third Team. Johnson also finished 15th in MVP voting. Dan Majerle finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

Player statistics

Season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 31 2 11.5 .463 .167 .704 1.1 1.9 .5 .1 6.0 64 4 11.3 .482 .167 .736 2.4 0.8 .3 .2 7.2 69 66 28.2 .431 .367 .830 5.8 2.1 .8 .5 16.3 81 81 38.0 .512 .439 .886 5.0 5.1 2.0 .4 20.1 78 78 37.2 .479 .217 .807 3.7 10.7 1.5 .3 19.7 42 1 15.0 .475 .308 .688 1.1 2.7 .6 .1 5.8 81 71 24.3 .522 .000 .768 6.7 0.5 .6 2.5 7.7 82 15 34.8 .478 .382 .756 5.9 3.3 1.6 .5 17.3 52 3 10.5 .477 . .690 2.8 0.9 .4 .3 4.5 52 4 9.7 .512 .400 .667 2.1 0.7 .3 .0 3.1 80 69 31.0 .523 .375 .712 6.9 1.7 .6 1.5 12.3 28 5 13.6 .463 . .778 3.8 1.3 .4 .5 3.2 82 11 17.5 .632 . .637 4.5 0.3 .2 1.0 6.1

Playoffs PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 8 0 13.0 .421 .000 .857 1.5 1.8 .6 .0 6.3 8 8 23.5 .550 . .667 6.4 1.5 .8 .8 13.5 7 0 27.7 .459 .571^ .844 4.4 2.7 .3 .7 15.6 8 8 42.9 .484 .471^ .912 6.4 5.3 1.8 .3 20.4 8 8 41.9 .484 .500^ .861 4.1 11.6 1.5 .3 23.6 8 8 24.0 .375 . .789 4.0 0.3 .4 1.9 5.6 7 0 38.0 .432 .273 .962+ 6.3 2.9 1.4 .0 18.6 8 0 8.4 .389 .385 1.000+ 2.3 0.5 .4 .0 2.9 8 8 23.1 .603† . .719 4.9 1.4 .4 .8 12.4 8 0 12.0 .737† . .500 2.1 0.3 .3 .5 4.0

† – Minimum 20 field goals made. ^ – Minimum 5 three-pointers made. + – Minimum 10 free throws made.

Player statistics citation:

Transactions

Trades June 27, 1991 To Cleveland Cavaliers Rights to Miloš Babić To Phoenix Suns Rights to Stefano Rusconi October 1, 1991 To New York Knicks Xavier McDaniel To Phoenix Suns Jerrod Mustaf Trent Tucker 1992 second-round draft pick ( Brian Davis) 1994 second-round draft pick ( Anthony Goldwire)

Free agents

Additions Date Player Contract Old Team February 14, 1992 Steve Burtt Signed two 10-day contracts Oklahoma City Cavalry (CBA) March 5, 1992 Steve Burtt Signed for rest of season Phoenix Suns

Subtractions Date Player Reason left New team August 6, 1991 Ian Lockhart Free agent Cholet Basket (France) October 29, 1991 Joey Wright Waived Pensacola HotShots (GBA) October 30, 1991 Joe Barry Carroll Waived (Retired) November 15, 1991 Trent Tucker Waived San Antonio Spurs

Player Transactions Citation:

1991–92 Phoenix Suns season

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