Suns Top Trail Blazers for Second Preseason Win
The Phoenix Suhs had a strong showing in Portland Thursday night despite being short-handed, defeating the Trail Blazers 122-111.
Bradley Beal was a late scratch due to back tightness, while Drew Eubanks was out due to an ankle sprain.
Phoenix's starters began the game with a great rapport offensively but struggled to get any meaningful stops early.
Jordan Goodwin made his Suns debut at the 3:28 mark in the first quarter and quickly made an impact with a layup and disruptive defense that lead to two steals. Udoke Azubuike struggled in three minutes on the floor in an otherwise uneventful first half for Suns reserves.
Portland lead 40-37 after one quarter behind strong play from Malcolm Brogdon and Jerami Grant.
Durant took a substantial amount of time to get going, even going into the second quarter, starting out 4-for-12 before a big three point hit off of a Devin Booker dish.
Coincidentally, Kevin Durant hitting that shot seemed to wake everyone up, as the Suns finished the first half on a huge run, leading 76-55 at halftime. The Suns looked much more comfortable defensively as well, generating several deflections and blocking a couple of shots.
Jusuf Nurkic, Booker, and Eric Gordon were especially standouts. All three players called it a night after the first half, as the trio combined for 55 points. Durant added in 16, knocking down two of his final three looks.
The Suns rolled out Saben Lee, Yuta Watanabe, Little, Chemeize Metu, and Azubuike to start the second half. This lineup seemed to be one that Vogel could roll out to explore fit and see how versatile this group of five can be. Little, another Blazer making their return to Portland, proved to be a spark plug on both ends.
The Suns ceded 11 points to Portland in the first three minutes of the half despite Little's strong play.
Unfortunately, the lack of on-court continuity and complete bench-driven lineups failed to continue the momentum the starters built to finish the half. Scoot Henderson had a noticeably great third quarter, finishing the night with 22 points.
Portland trimmed the lead to 3, as the Suns lead 91-88 going into the fourth.
Coach Vogel decided to re-insert Goodwin to open the fourth, and the energy the point guard brought was once again conspicuous on both ends. The former Wizard showed great poise running the offense, and had a beautiful euro finish off of a dribble-drive. Keon Johnson also flashed the ability to get to the rim, converting two and-one opportunities.
The Suns drove these strong contributions into a 18-3 run to begin the fourth, once again increasing the lead to nearly 20 points. The run prompted a Chauncey Billups timeout and the Suns appeared on the way to a big win.
Phoenix closed out the night with a 122-111 win. The next game will be a re-up with Portland on Monday at Footprint center. The game tips off at 7 Arizona time.
Suns Team Stats
46-87 FG (52.9%)
12-31 3-PT FG (38.7%)
18-23 FTA (78.3%)
44 rebounds
27 assists
11 steals
4 blocks
16 TO's
16 fouls
Suns Individual Stats
Devin Booker: 18 points, 5 assists, 3 3PM
Eric Gordon: 20 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 8-10 FG, 3 3PM
Jusuf Nurkic: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 6-8 FG
Kevin Durant: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 6-15 FG
