Phoenix Suns coach Mike Budenholzer meets with the media after the Suns picked up their fourth-straight win with a narrow 103-97 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
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.
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.
Tonight's stats against Portland ????
Booker: 28 PTS, 9 REB, 9 AST
Durant: 21 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST
Allen: 18 PTS, 2 REB, 3 BLK
Beal: 15 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK
Jones: 15 PTS, 6 AST, 5 REB, 1 STL
Nurkić: 3 PTS, 15 REB
O'Neale: 3 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK
Plumlee: 6 REB,… pic.twitter.com/8eLMQDYR34— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 3, 2024
Some quotes from Budenholzer’s press conference (via Suns)
- On the Suns’ 44-point third quarter: “Yeah, the defense was good. I thought we were playing in a great rhythm offensively, kind of getting to everything, everybody was participating, allowed us to get great separation from them. We got to learn to play for 48 minutes. We’re not there, but I’m sure nobody is, so it’s good to put together stretches like the third quarter. We got to keep building on that.”
- On Grayson Allen’s season high of 18 points: “It was great for Grayson (Allen) to have a night like he did tonight. I think there was a little bit of pop defensively, the guys found him, the ball found him and he’s a great shooter. He just gives us a ton and he’s been through a little bit, but he’s going to be great for us.”
- On what the halftime speech was to put up a 44-point third quarter: “I think we were a little frustrated with our rebounding and with just some of the effort plays on the glass. I think, if we felt like, we could clean up the rebounding, it would help us get out and play and I thought the third quarter was much better on the glass.”
Budenholzer also discusses who the leader of the team is in the fourth quarter, focusing on the good and bad, struggles in the fourth quarter compared to last season and Bradley Beal’s performance coming off injury.
“The group is finding things, doing things, being creative. We just got to find a way to do that for 48.”#Suns coach Mike Budenholzer wanted to focus on Phoenix’s 44-18 third quarter rather than being outscored 32-16 in the fourth in their 103-97 win over the #Blazers. pic.twitter.com/ObaQTW2aUY
— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) November 3, 2024
“It’s on me.”#Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said he has to be better in the fourth quarter. https://t.co/91LvXDUVYa pic.twitter.com/fVlXALXB9I
— Burn City Suns ☀️ (@BurnCitySuns) November 3, 2024
Initial takeaways from Suns’ tight 103-97 victory over Trail 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
