NEW YORK (AP) -Leandro Barbosa won the NBA’s Sixth Man Award on Monday after a season in which he averaged 18.0 points and helped lead the Phoenix Suns to the second-best record in the league.
The fourth-year guard from Brazil received 101 of a possible 127 first-place votes and 578 points from a media panel. San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili was second with 269 points and Dallas guard Jerry Stackhouse was third with 210.
The vote was announced a day after Barbosa scored 15 straight points in the second half to spark the Suns’ comeback in their playoff opener. Barbosa finished with 26 points, matching his career playoff high, in the 95-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
This season, he came off the bench in 62 of 80 games. Barbosa scored 20 or more points in 33 games and averaged 4.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds. The Suns went 61-21 this season, and only Dallas had a better record.
He is the fourth Suns’ player to win the award, joining Eddie Johnson (1988-89), Danny Manning (1997-98) and Rodney Rogers (1999-00).
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