1991–92 Phoenix Suns season

The 1991–92 NBA season was the 24th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. In the off-season, the Suns acquired three-point specialist Trent Tucker from the New York Knicks. However, Tucker never played for the team as he was released to free agency, and later on signed with the San Antonio Spurs. The Suns were led by head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, which would be the last of his four-season second stint as coach of the Suns. All home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The team got off to a slow 5–9 start, but went on a nine-game winning streak as they won 14 of their next 15 games, and held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break. The Suns finished third in the Pacific Division with a 53–29 record.

Guard Jeff Hornacek led the Suns in scoring, averaging 20.1 points per game plus contributing 5.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game. In addition, Kevin Johnson averaged 19.7 points and led the team with 10.7 assists per game, while sixth man Dan Majerle provided the team with 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game off the bench, and Tom Chambers, at 32 years of age, appeared in 69 games and contributed 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Tim Perry stepped into the lineup averaging 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, while Andrew Lang replaced Mark West in the lineup at center, averaging 7.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and leading the team with 2.5 blocks per game. Hornacek finished the season third in three-point field goal percentage at .439, while Johnson's assist average was good for second-best in the league.

In the Western Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Suns swept the Spurs in three straight games, but lost 4–1 to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Semi-finals. The Blazers would lose in six games to the defending champion Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.

Hornacek and Majerle were both selected for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, while by season's end, Johnson was selected to the All-NBA Third Team, and second-year forward Cedric Ceballos won the Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star Weekend in Orlando. Following the season, Hornacek, Perry and Lang were all traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Draft picks

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

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

Game log

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 14th in MVP voting.
• Dan Majerle finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

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

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

Player Transactions Citation:

See also

• 1991–92 NBA season

References