Blazers Look Chopped vs Running Suns

SB Nation

According to an old Hawaiian proverb, it’s hard to harvest the coconuts if you don’t have the trees–and judging by the way the Phoenix Suns dismantled the dilapidated Portland Trail Blazers tonight, my

ancient ancestors may have been on to something. Adding Jerami Grant to an already overloaded injury list (Jrue Holiday, Matisse Thybulle, Scoot Henderson, Wesley Clark and Damian Lilliard) left Portland with an orchard woefully short of fruit-bearing plants and the Suns took full advantage by chopping out a 127-110 victory. Devin Booker and Collin Gillespie both scored 19 points for Phoenix while Shaedon Sharpe tallied 29 for the home team.

Player of the Game

Shaedon Sharpe delivered a master class in how to shoulder a heavy load with one arm tied behind your back. In spite of going 0-6 from downtown, he scratched out 29 points on 12 of 24 shots and 5 of 7 free throws in 30 mostly-difficult minutes. Honorable mention goes to Caleb Love, who came off the bench for 17 points, 11 of which kept the Blazers in the game in the first quarter.

Stat of the Night

The NBA is reportedly a game of runs, and this one gave that report a lot of credibility. After closing the first half with an 8-0 run to claw their way to a 64-61 deficit, the Blazers gave up a 12-0 run to open the second half to let the game get away. Or maybe not–maybe it was just playing in the three-point refrigerator once again. The Blazers shot 10 for 41 (24%) this time, which was quite a few coconuts short of a crop.

What We Noticed

Everyone in the Moda Center noticed Yang Hansen tonight. Fresh from a successful stint with the Portland Remix, Portland’s favorite rookie got some run. He finished with 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a block.

And something else way too noticeable was watching Draft Kings ads soliciting proposition bets, a move probably a little more jarring in Portland right now than it is in most places.