After a disappointing loss on Sunday, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 127-110.
Shaedon Sharpe led the Blazers with 20 points at halftime, keeping his team locked in and helping them overcome an 11-point Suns lead to cut it down to 64–61 at the break. But it was the closest the team would be for the remainder of the game.
After halftime, the Suns responded with a 12–0 run, sparked by Ryan Dunn and his career-high five-steal performance. From there, the Suns would outscore the Blazers
63-49 in the second half to secure their 9th win of the season.
The Blazers’ opportunities to stay close ran thin down the stretch, as the Suns refused to let up or repeat the mistakes from Sunday night when they surrendered a 22-point lead. Phoenix maintained its composure and toughness, pushing through a scrappy (but injured) Blazers team and securing the win, improving to 9–6 on the season.
Game Flow
First Half
Leading a 12–0 run to begin the game, Devin Booker capitalized on the right passes and fast-break opportunities to put the Suns up 16–7. With three early assists in the first quarter, Booker shared the load as Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams broke down the Blazers’ defense, blowing open the paint with eight of the Suns’ first 16 points coming at the rim.
A wild sequence that included four offensive rebounds gave the Blazers a chance to climb back into the game, cutting the Suns’ lead to four. After a couple of fumbled possessions, the Suns were forced to call a timeout at the 5:21 mark to regain their composure.
Second-chance points and offensive rebounds are the Blazers’ strengths, and with six second-chance points and five offensive boards, Portland took full advantage of the extra opportunities the Suns allowed in the first quarter. Despite that, Phoenix held a narrow 35–32 lead at the end of one.
Royce O’Neal came out firing from three in the first half, hitting 3 of 4 from deep after struggling on Sunday night when he went 1 of 6. But even with O’Neal’s hot start, the Suns continued to struggle on the defensive glass, allowing the Blazers to grab four quick offensive rebounds in the first three minutes of the second quarter.
Entering the game for the first time, Blazers rookie Yang Hansen provided an immediate spark, helping trim the Suns’ lead to two. Hansen controlled the offense and backed down Williams for a couple of strong interior buckets, waking up the Blazers crowd. But the Suns had answers of their own, and after getting punked by Hansen on a few possessions, Williams responded with a pair of emphatic, redemptive dunks.
Suns rookie Rasheer Flemming had the opportunity to close the first half on the floor and made himself valuable by attacking the rim and getting to the free-throw line, knocking down all four of his attempts. Both teams struggled from deep in the second quarter — the Suns went 2 of 9 from three, while the Blazers went 1 of 9 — with Deni hitting a big three to close the half and cut the deficit. Phoenix entered the break holding a 64–61 lead.
Second Half
A lightning-fast start by the Suns sparked a 12–0 run fueled by forced turnovers against a stagnant Blazers offense that could barely string together a clean pass for most of the first five minutes of the third quarter. Whatever momentum Portland built at the end of the first half was silenced instantly by the Suns, as if it never existed.
With six steals and seven points off turnovers in the first six minutes of the third quarter, the game began to get sloppy.
Frustrated with their offensive performance, the Blazers ramped up their defensive pressure, making it difficult for the Suns to slow the pace and maintain control without the game feeling like it might slip away.
Picking up their full-court pressure, the Blazers still couldn’t capitalize on opportunities to cut the Suns’ lead to single digits, as Phoenix controlled the glass and created multiple second-chance opportunities of their own.
Led by Oso Ighodaro, the Suns’ bench finished the third quarter wheeling and dealing — stealing, dunking, and extending the lead to 20 as they entered the fourth up 100–82. Oso piled up a team-high eight points, accounting for half of the Suns’ 16 bench points in the quarter.
The Blazers’ defensive pressure never let up, but the Suns matched their scrappiness and continued knocking down threes in the fourth. Outscoring Portland 12–7 to open the quarter, Phoenix made sure to maintain control and close out the game, defeating the Blazers on Tuesday night.
Up Next
The Suns now get a few days of rest before returning home to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night in an NBA Cup matchup, tipping off at 7:00 PM Arizona time.
