The 1985–86 Phoenix Suns season was the 18th season for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. The Suns finished the regular season tied with their third-worst record to that point, going just 32–50. Coupled with every team in the Western Conference's Midwest division finishing with a better record than all but two teams from the Pacific division, and the Suns were out of the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, ending a then-franchise record streak for consecutive playoff berths. The Suns were led by

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

John MacLeod, in his 13th year with the Suns, and played all home games in

Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, also called the Madhouse Coliseum or Phoenix Memorial Coliseum, is a 14,870-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, located at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. It hosted the Phoenix Su ...

. Walter Davis bounced back from injury that caused him to miss the majority of the previous season, leading the Suns in scoring at 22

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

per game, his highest output since his 1978–79 season with the Suns. Phoenix boasted a pair of 20–20 scorers, as

Larry Nance Larry Donnell Nance Sr. (born February 12, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. A forward from Clemson University, Nance played 14 seasons (1981–1994) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Phoen ...

continued to increase his scoring each season since being drafted five seasons ago by Phoenix, with a 20.2 average a game for the season. Nance would finish the season ranked third in the NBA in

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

percentage and lead the Suns in

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

. Mike Sanders came off the bench and appeared in all 82 regular season games, averaging a career-high 11.0 points a game.

Offseason

NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

* The Suns were the last winless team, starting the season 0–9. * On ,

Alvin Robertson Alvin Cyrrale Robertson (born July 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 1993, and for one final season in 1995–96. Robertson holds the record for th ...

recorded the second

quadruple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: point (basketball), points, rebound (basketball), rebounds, assist (basketball), assist ...

(double digits in four statistical categories in a single game) in NBA history, when he registered 20 points, 11

, 10 assists and 10 steals while playing for the Spurs against the Suns. He is also the only player to do so with steals as the fourth category (the other three were with blocks).

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Awards and honors

Week/Month

was named Player of the Week for games played December 16 through December 22.

All-Star

This was the first year in franchise history that the Suns were not represented in the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

Player statistics

Season

, - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 78 , , 45 , , 25.7 , , .502 , , . , , .783 , , 6.1 , , 4.2 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 10.8 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 70 , , 62 , , 32.0 , , .485 , , .237 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .843 , , 2.9 , , 5.2 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 21.8 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 12.8 , , .381 , , . , , .250 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , .0 , , 4.3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 52 , , 51 , , 25.3 , , .542 , , . , , .702 , , 5.8 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .6 , , 16.3 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 48 , , 0 , , 14.7 , , .390 , , .281 , , .719 , , 1.2 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 4.2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 49 , , 16 , , 15.8 , , .402 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 1.000 , , .574 , , 3.3 , , 0.7 , , .5 , , .5 , , 4.9 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , * , , 4 , , 0 , , 16.3 , , .200 , , .000 , , .667 , , 0.8 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .0 , , 3.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 82 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 82 , , 33.3 , , .479 , , .138 , , .767 , , 3.2 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 6.4 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 1.6 , , .1 , , 11.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 43 , , 18 , , 17.3 , , .457 , , .000 , , .510 , , 4.5 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .6 , , 4.7 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 73 , , 69 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 34.0 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .581† , , .000 , , .698 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 8.5 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 1.8 , , 20.2 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 80 , , 24 , , 20.0 , , .558 , , .000 , , .673 , , 3.9 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .5 , , 8.5 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 69 , , 17 , , 16.4 , , .583† , , . , , .702 , , 3.6 , , 0.8 , , .5 , , .3 , , 5.1 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 46 , , 1 , , 13.7 , , .377 , , .000 , , .688 , , 3.2 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.8 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 82 , , 5 , , 20.0 , , .513 , , .200 , , .809 , , 3.3 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .4 , , 11.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 61 , , 20 , , 21.0 , , .489 , , .000 , , .809 , , 2.3 , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , 8.5 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , * , , 10 , , 0 , , 20.6 , , .441 , , .300 , , .667 , , 2.3 , , 2.6 , , .5 , , .0 , , 7.5 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 11 , , 0 , , 18.4 , , .319 , , . , , .348 , , 5.5 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , .5 , , 4.9 * – Stats with the Suns.
† – Minimum 300 field goals made.

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

References

Standings on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1985-86 Phoenix Suns Season Phoenix Suns seasons Phoe