Recap: Suns retaliate, defeat Blazers to win the fifth straight game, 127-121.

Recap: Suns retaliate, defeat Blazers to win the fifth straight game, 127-121.

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The Suns shook off the rust early in the game (typical of any team returning from half-time) to guarantee their 25th win of the season. This gives Phoenix five consecutive wins to go to a home game against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

This is simply a very exciting basketball to watch, it has been an absolute joy to see them count victory after victory this season. Fighting multiple double-digit deficits against a playoff team is not an easy thing to do.

First half

The start of the game featured Portland and Phoenix exchanging punches, with Damian Lillard commanding a lot of defensive attention, which led to a lot of open eyes for Enes Kanter.

Mikal Bridges played his normal stellar (annoying) defense across the court and made some timely cuts as usual in the transition that led to easy buckets.

Devin Booker also made this pass from Steve Nash.

Going into the second quarter, the Suns lost 33-30, despite Cam Payne’s 8 quick points in just 3 shots in 5 minutes in the first period.

The comings and goings continued at the start of the 2nd quarter, while the second Suns + Chris Paul unit in the non-Booker staggered minutes struggled hard.

Portland’s strong shot increased the lead to 47-37, leading to a Monty Williams timeout.

Protecting the three-point line has been a strength of the Suns, but not in the beginning, as the blazing blazers were 10 by 20 (50%) from the depths.

Mikal Bridges’ out-of-the-ball movement was incredible, as almost all of the 16 points in the first half were a direct result of his cut, relocation or leak in the transition.

A very strong one close to the quarter cut to Portland’s lead quickly, going into the 60-60 draw tied in a game that looked like a break until the final 90 seconds of the second quarter or so.

Second time

Portland’s three-point shots continued as they built a 9-point lead largely due to the severity of Dame’s shots creating easy looks for others.

Lillard started to pace himself offensively, which is not ideal in a game where Portland had a comfortable advantage. My key to the game in the preview was not to let Portland stick around for “Dame Time”, and they failed to do that.

The Blazers were winning the 50/50 balls, hitting harder and breaking the glass. Those little plays certainly made sense and have usually been a strong point for Suns, but not tonight.

Portland extended its lead to 11, 90-79 with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter.

Devin Booker started to warm up slowly towards the end of the third, accumulating 26 points in the final period. The Suns ran another race towards the end of the quarter to reduce the Blazers’ lead to 4, 94-80 going to 4th.

Chris Paul made two critical plays on consecutive possessions, draining a three-point basket when it was just a two-point game, then scored a smart foul on Carmelo to get two free throws, going for a 5-0 run for him.

Devin Booker checks in. Devin Booker scores 5 points on two possessions. The Suns closers have increased significantly to extend the lead to 10, forcing Terry Stotts to time out.

Cameron Payne also made another tremendous game, scoring 13 points in 20 minutes in a 4 in 5 shot with 3 three and 6 assists.

There was a scary moment at the end of day 4, when Booker seemed to hit his knees with Derrick Jones Jr. and winced in pain, but remained at stake to end things.

The Suns managed to win by 127-121, despite a rather disappointing start to the game, they got rid of the rust.

Game star

Devin Booker– 35 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds on 12/21 shots (3/5 3PFG, 8 / 8FT).

Next

Suns vs. Pacers (8pm)

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