Suns Drama? Monty Williams Stern on Deandre Ayton's Game 7 Minutes: 'It's Internal'

Williams was direct in his postgame press conference on why Ayton barely played minutes down the stretch. Is drama brewing in the desert?

It was a night that many in Phoenix will look to forget, yet Suns coach Monty Williams dropped a memorable but short line in his postgame press conference following his team's defeat in Game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks. 

The Suns trailed every bit of the 48 minutes that were played in the Footprint Center, scoring just 27 points at halftime and seeing their deficit climb to as much as 46 points at one point in the game. 

It was a rough night for everybody involved on the Suns bench.

Williams was out-coached by Dallas' Jason Kidd, and the trio of Chris Paul-Devin Booker-Deandre Ayton failed to score a field goal until 4:15 left in the first half. 

The talk surrounding Phoenix's backcourt of Paul-Booker was the main focus of conversation, yet following the game Ayton, who played just 17 minutes in the blowout loss, was brought up to Williams. 

Reporter: (Ayton) played 17 minutes-

Williams: Yup.

Reporter: And so, he didn't play most of the fourth quarter, is there any reason why? Is he hurt? Is-

Williams: It's internal. 

Williams, who is typically more than happy to elaborate on issues, was stern and short with Ayton's time on the floor, which was under four minutes in the second half.

There is nothing confirmed about the rumors and whispers of Ayton/Williams getting into it on the bench, where Ayton reportedly refused to enter the game after the Suns fell into a large deficit. 

However, Williams' comments on Ayton do indeed provide the smoke for a potential fire between the two. 

Ayton is searching for a max contract this offseason, and without a championship ring on top of a potential feud with the organization, his chances at the moment don't bode well to open a few more bank accounts.