Suns’ Barbosa wins Sixth Man Award

A player must come off the bench in at least half of their games to be considered for the award.

Barbosa received 101 of 127 first-place votes and 578 points from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.

Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs finished second with 269 points, while the Dallas Mavericks’ Jerry Stackhouse placed third with 210.

Barbosa averaged a career-high 18.1 points, four assists and 2.7 rebounds in 80 games, 62 of them as a reserve, as the Suns won the Pacific Division with a 61-21 mark and finished as the second-seed in the Western Conference.

On Sunday, the Brazilian native erupted for 26 points to match his career playoff high and led the Suns past the Los Angeles Lakers, 95-87, in the opener of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Bobby Jones of the Philadelphia 76ers was named the league’s first top bench player following the 1982-83 season. Barbosa is the fourth member of the Suns to win the award, joining Eddie Johnson, Danny Manning and Rodney Rogers.

Mike Miller of the Memphis Grizzlies won the award last season.