The Phoenix Suns picked up their fourth-straight win with a narrow 103-97 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers tonight.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Phoenix improved to 5-1 with the win, while Portland dropped its second-straight game and fell to 2-5 on the year.
Here are some initial takeaways from the victory:
– The Suns showed fight again, as they have all season, outscoring Portland 44-18 in the third quarter after trailing 47-43 at halftime and allowing a 17-4 run to end the second quarter. This means the Suns scored more points in the third than they did the entire first half. Phoenix shot an awful 12-for-44 (27.3%) in the first half, but ended shooting 35-for-93 (37.6%) from the floor and was 17-for-28 (60.7%) in the third.
– Phoenix did not perform well in the fourth quarter at all, letting Portland somehow cut its once 26-point lead to only two points. The Suns played with their food and the Blazers made them pay, but it ultimately was not enough. Portland won the fourth quarter 32-16.
Devin Booker almost has a costly turnover, but the #Suns will hold on for the win after Booker goes 2-for-2 from the line to put Phoenix ahead 103-97 with 4.3 seconds to go #PORvsPHX pic.twitter.com/s7bcK9ABzQ
— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) November 3, 2024
– The Suns got up a season-high 52 3-pointers tonight, doing exactly what coach Mike Budenholzer has preached since he took the job. They only converted 17 of them (32.7%), shattering their previous season high of 39 attempts (twice).
– While the Suns improved significantly in shooting from the first to the second half, the Blazers did not until their comeback midway through the fourth. After shooting 17-for-57 (29.8%) in the first half, the Blazers ended the night shooting overall. Only one Portland player (Dalano Banton) starter shot over 40% from the field
– Grayson Allen had his first big night of the season, scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting off the bench. However, O’Neale (3 points) was the only other Sun to score off the bench.
– After a 1-for-8 first half, Devin Booker ended with 28 points on 9-for-23 shooting, nine assists and nine rebounds contributing in all facets of the game. This was almost Booker’s first-ever triple double in the regular season.
– Jusuf Nurkic only had three points, but did a great job in the paint all night, grabbing a season-high 15 rebounds.
The Suns will next take on the Philadelphia 76ers (1-4) at home on Monday night at 8:15 p.m. MST.
What Suns need to do in 2nd half to overcome 4-point deficit to Blazers
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
