1994–95 Phoenix Suns season

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1994–95 Phoenix Suns season
Division Champions
Head coach Paul Westphal
General manager Jerry Colangelo
Owner(s) Jerry Colangelo
Arena America West Arena
Results
Record 59–23 (.720)
Place Division: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish Lost in Semifinals to Houston (3–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio KTAR
< 1993–94 1995–96 >

The 1994–95 Phoenix Suns season was the 27th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns were led by Paul Westphal, in his third year as head coach of the Suns. The Suns had finished the regular season with 59 wins, the first time in the franchise's history they had ended the season with 55 or more wins for three consecutive seasons. The Suns swept the Portland Trailblazers in three shraight games in the first round of the playoffs, but for the second year in a row, had their playoff run stopped in a Western Conference Semifinals' Game 7 loss at the hands of the Houston Rockets. All home games were played at America West Arena.

The Suns were again led in both scoring and rebounding by All-Star Charles Barkley, averaging 23.0 points 11.1 rebounds for the season. In the off season, the Suns had acquired free agent Danny Manning, who was coming off an All-Star year. With the Suns, he would average 17.9 points a game but the oft-injured Manning appeared in just 46 games in his first season in Phoenix and would not be available for the Suns' playoff run. For point guard Kevin Johnson, the injury that had allowed him to start in just 35 games in the regular season happened earlier enough in the season he would be able to play in the Suns' fourth consecutive Western Conference Semifinals. Johnson would average a team-high 7.7 assists and 15.5 points during the regular season.

Dan Majerle finished the season tied for second in made three-point field goals, 199, and averaged 15.6 points for the Suns. The Suns front court was supplanted by A.C. Green's 11.2 points and 8.2 rebounds and Wayman Tisdale's 10 points per game. The Suns' pick in the draft was used to select Wesley Person, a shooting guard out of Auburn, who contributed 10.4 points a game while connecting on a team-high 43.6% of his three-pointers. By season's end, Person was selected to the All-Rookie Second Team.

Barkley was named to his ninth All-Star Game, joined by Majerle, who was selected for his third and final All-Star Game. Barkley repeated as an All-NBA Second Team selection. Following the season, Majerle was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Offseason

NBA Draft

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Main article: 1994 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 23 Wesley Person SG/SF  United States Auburn
2 29 Antonio Lang SF  United States Duke
2 50 Charles Claxton C  United States Virgin Islands Georgia
2 52 Anthony Goldwire PG  United States Houston

The Suns used their first-round pick to select shooting guard Wesley Person from Auburn. Person averaged 19.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in four years with the Tigers. Person would be named to the All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 10.4 points a game, and shooting .436% from the three-point line. Person would spend three seasons with the Suns before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1997.

The Suns received the 29th pick from a trade with the San Antonio Spurs in 1993. With the pick they would select small forward Antonio Lang from Duke. Lang won National Championships with the Blue Devils in 1991 and 1992. Lang spent the majority of the year on the injured list, and was later traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1995.

The Suns used their second-round pick to select center Charles Claxton from Georgia. Claxton would opt to play his final year with the Bulldogs. The Suns also received the 52nd pick from a trade with the New York Knicks in 1991. With the pick they would select point guard Anthony Goldwire from Houston. Goldwire was waived three days before the start of the season. He would later play for nine NBA teams over the course of eight seasons.

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From
SG 22 United States Ainge, Danny 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1959–03–17 Brigham Young
PF 34 United States Barkley, Charles 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1963–02–20 Auburn
PF 45 United States Green, A. C. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1963–10–04 Oregon State
PG 7 United States Johnson, Kevin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1966–03–04 California
C 35 United States Kleine, Joe 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1962–01–04 Arkansas
SF 21 United States Lang, Antonio Injured 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1972–05–15 Duke
SG 9 United States Majerle, Dan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1965–09–09 Central Michigan
PF 15 United States Manning, Danny Injured 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1966–05–17 Kansas
PG 2 United States Perry, Elliot 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1969–03–28 Memphis
SG 11 United States Person, Wesley 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1971–03–28 Auburn
PG 8 United States Ruffin, Trevor 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1970–09–26 Hawaiʻi
C 24 United States Schayes, Danny 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1959–05–10 Syracuse
PF 23 United States Tisdale, Wayman 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1964–06–09 Oklahoma
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Depth chart

Pos. Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C Joe Kleine Danny Schayes
PF A. C. Green Wayman Tisdale Danny Manning Injured
SF Charles Barkley Dan Majerle Antonio Lang Injured
SG Wesley Person Danny Ainge
PG Kevin Johnson Elliot Perry Trevor Ruffin

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Phoenix Suns 59 23 .720 — 32–9 27–14 23–7
x-Seattle SuperSonics 57 25 .695 2 32–9 25–16 16–14
x-Los Angeles Lakers 48 34 .585 11 29–12 19–22 15–15
x-Portland Trail Blazers 44 38 .537 15 26–15 18–23 17–13
Sacramento Kings 39 43 .476 20 27–14 12–29 17–13
Golden State Warriors 26 56 .317 33 15–26 11–30 11–19
Los Angeles Clippers 17 65 .207 42 13–28 4–37 6–24
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-San Antonio Spurs 62 20 .756 –
2 y-Phoenix Suns 59 23 .720 3
3 x-Utah Jazz 60 22 .732 2
4 x-Seattle SuperSonics 57 25 .695 5
5 x-Los Angeles Lakers 48 34 .585 14
6 x-Houston Rockets 47 35 .573 15
7 x-Portland Trail Blazers 44 38 .537 18
8 x-Denver Nuggets 41 41 .500 21
9 Sacramento Kings 39 43 .476 23
10 Dallas Mavericks 36 46 .439 26
11 Golden State Warriors 26 56 .317 36
12 Minnesota Timberwolves 21 61 .256 41
13 Los Angeles Clippers 17 65 .207 45


Playoffs

Game log

1995 playoff game log
1995 playoff schedule

Awards and honors

Week/Month

  • Elliot Perry was named Player of the Week for games played November 14 through November 20.
  • Charles Barkley was named Player of the Week for games played February 13 through February 19.

All-Star

  • Charles Barkley was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his ninth consecutive All-Star selection. Barkley finished first in voting among Western Conference forwards with 1,046,105 votes.
  • Dan Majerle was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his third All-Star selection. Majerle finished first in voting among Western Conference guards with 868,115 votes.
  • Paul Westphal coached the Western Conference in the All-Star Game, which was held in Phoenix for the second time. The West defeated the East 139–112.
  • Other Suns players receiving All-Star votes were: Danny Manning (327,554).
  • Dan Majerle was selected to compete in the Three-Point Shootout. Majerle was eliminated in the first round.
  • Wesley Person and Trevor Ruffin were selected to play in the Rookie Challenge.

Season

Injuries/Missed games

  • 10/08/94: Richard Dumas: League suspension (failed drug test); reinstated March 13
  • 11/03/94: Charles Barkley: Strained stomach muscle; placed on injured list until November 26
  • 11/03/94: Aaron Swinson: Sprained ankle; placed on injured list until November 15
  • 11/11/94: Kevin Johnson: Sprained rib cage muscle; out until November 18
  • 11/12/94: Danny Ainge: Flu; did not play
  • 11/15/94: Antonio Lang: Back spasms; placed on injured list until February 6
  • 11/16/94: Wayman Tisdale: Sprained ankle; out until November 29
  • 11/23/94: Kevin Johnson: Sore knee; did not play
  • 11/26/94: Kevin Johnson: Strained groin; placed on injured list until December 12
  • 11/27/94: Charles Barkley: Strained stomach muscle; did not play
  • 12/12/94: Kevin Johnson: Strained groin; did not play
  • 12/12/94: Aaron Swinson: Knee tendinitis; placed on injured list until December 29
  • 01/03/95: Kevin Johnson: Strained quadriceps; out until January 22
  • 01/03/95: Wayman Tisdale: Flu; did not play
  • 01/26/95: Kevin Johnson: Strained quadriceps; out until February 19
  • 01/29/95: Wesley Person: Sore foot; out until February 3
  • 02/03/95: Wayman Tisdale: Separated rib cartilage; out until February 17
  • 02/06/95: Danny Manning: Torn ACL; placed on injured list for rest of season
  • 02/17/95: Danny Ainge: League suspension (punched Chris Dudley on February 15); did not play
  • 02/26/95: Joe Kleine: Personal reasons; did not play
  • 02/28/95: Charles Barkley: Sprained knee; did not play
  • 03/01/95: Charles Barkley: Sprained knee; did not play
  • 03/14/95: Wayman Tisdale: Strained rib; placed on injured reserve until March 24
  • 03/24/95: Trevor Ruffin: Bruised shoulder; did not play
  • 03/24/95: Antonio Lang: Sprained knee; placed on injured list for rest of season
  • 03/31/95: Richard Dumas: Urinary tract infection; did not play
  • 04/02/95: Richard Dumas: Urinary tract infection; did not play
  • 04/09/95: Danny Ainge: Bruised knee, sore back; did not play
  • 04/09/95: Danny Ainge: Bruised knee, sore back; did not play
  • 04/15/95: Charles Barkley: League suspension (exceeded flagrant foul limit); did not play
  • 05/09/95: Richard Dumas: Bruised wrist; out until waived on May 18

Player statistics

Legend
  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
Danny Ainge 74 1 18.6 .460 .364 .808 1.5 2.8 .6 .1 7.7
Charles Barkley 68 66 35.0 .486 .338 .748 11.1 4.1 1.6 .7+ 23.0
Richard Dumas 15 1 11.1 .507 .000 .500 1.9 0.5 .7 .1 5.5
A. C. Green 82 52 32.8 .504 .339 .732 8.2 1.5 .7 .4 11.2
Kevin Johnson 47 35 28.8 .470 .154 .810 2.4 7.7+ 1.0 .4 15.5
Joe Kleine 75 42 12.9 .449 .000 .857# 3.5 0.5 .2 .2 3.7
Antonio Lang 12 0 4.4 .400 . .750 0.3 0.1 .0 .2 0.9
Dan Majerle 82 46 37.7 .425 .363 .730 4.6 4.1 1.2 .5 15.6
Danny Manning 46 19 32.8 .547† .286 .673 6.0 3.3 .9 1.2+ 17.9
Elliot Perry 82 51 24.1 .520 .417 .810# 1.8 4.8+ 1.9 .0 9.7
Wesley Person 78 56 23.1 .484 .436^ .792 2.6 1.3 .6 .3 10.4
Trevor Ruffin 49 1 6.5 .426 .384 .711 0.5 1.0 .3 .0 4.8
Danny Schayes 69 27 11.9 .508 1.000^ .725 3.0 1.3 .3 .5 4.4
Aaron Swinson 9 0 5.7 .556† . .800 0.9 0.3 .1 .0 2.7
Wayman Tisdale 65 13 19.6 .484 . .770 3.8 0.7 .4 .4 10.0

† - Minimum 300 field goals made.
^ - Minimum 50 three-pointers made.
# - Minimum 125 free-throws made.
+ - Minimum 50 games played.

Playoffs

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Danny Ainge 10 0 13.7 .500 .462 .909 1.0 1.0 .5 .0 6.0
Charles Barkley 10 10 39.0 .500 .257 .733 13.4 3.2 1.3 1.1 25.7
Richard Dumas 3 0 1.7 .250 . . 0.3 0.0 .0 .0 0.7
A. C. Green 10 10 36.8 .462 .083 .873 12.0 1.3 .6 .2 12.8
Kevin Johnson 10 10 37.1 .573 .500 .845 4.1 9.3 .9 .4 24.8
Joe Kleine 10 10 16.7 .574 .500^ . 3.1 0.8 .5 .3 6.3
Dan Majerle 10 0 30.7 .370 .364 .706 3.1 1.7 1.4 .3 8.2
Elliot Perry 9 0 11.8 .476 .400 .800 1.1 1.3 .6 .0 6.9
Wesley Person 10 10 24.7 .410 .378 .917 2.1 1.1 .3 .2 9.6
Trevor Ruffin 3 0 2.2 .500 .250 .200 0.6 0.4 .2 .0 2.0
Danny Schayes 10 0 14.6 .379 .000 .875 2.0 0.8 .3 .3 2.9
Wayman Tisdale 10 0 17.0 .451 .000 .643 3.0 1.1 .0 .4 7.3

^ - Minimum 5 three-pointers made.

Transactions

Trades

August 1, 1994
 To Detroit Pistons---- To Phoenix Suns----
September 23, 1994
 To Los Angeles Lakers---- To Phoenix Suns----

Free agents

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