The Portland Trail Blazers cannot seem to figure out the Phoenix Suns. The Blazers lose to the Phoenix Suns 109-93 in what was a dominant performance by Phoenix in the fourth quarter. The Blazers fall to 49-28 on the season, while the Phoenix Suns, who are still grasping at a very thin playoff string, keep their hopes alive one more day with a victory here. Furthermore, at the time of this post, Golden State will beat Sacramento and will only be just a game and a half back from Portland for the fifth seed. As Portland looked to gain some momentum in the standings, they now will have a lot of work ahead of them.
Phoenix has been an annoying team for Portland throughout the season. In the first month of the season, when Portland played them three times, Phoenix shocked the Blazers by beating them mightily in the opener of the season and beating them once again later on in the month. If you remember the last game against Phoenix in Portland, Phoenix almost won that game. Phoenix got a good shot off and had an easy tip-in. Unfortunately, P.J. Tucker didn’t put enough force behind it and it fell off slowly as the buzzer sounded. One good tip-in and the Suns would have swept the season series against Portland. Think about that.
Looking ahead in the schedule, no one was looking forward to this matchup. The fast-paced offense combined by the well-coached and orchestrated defense gives Portland more trouble than any other team, in my opinion. Channing Frye and Markieff Morris give LaMarcus Aldridge so much trouble on the block as they push him out farther than LA is comfortable shooting. All of this was evident tonight and it seemed like even though it has felt like years since Portland played Phoenix, the Suns are still able to come in and do whatever they please.
Before I get too far ahead, the Blazers actually played one of their better games against the Suns. All night, it felt like a marathon. Both teams were attacking the basket with impunity and there were even some segments where the defense for both ends could not set up for multiple possessions. You know those games that make you feel tired even though you are just sitting down? That is what this game felt like.
The first three quarters were battles as both sides came out of the quarters with only a small margin as a reward. Phoenix outscored Portland by two in the first quarter; Portland outscored the Suns by five in the second quarter, but only had a three-point lead to show for it. In the third quarter, Portland took an early nine-point lead as they took advantage of Phoenix’s misses and grabbed defensive rebounds. Dunks and lay-ups were featured as well as LA finally getting locked in. With 9:11 remaining, Portland had a nine-point lead and looked to be grabbing control of this game. Unfortunately, Phoenix did not cooperate. Multiple times, Eric Bledsoe, the starting point guard for the Suns, would run down to the other end and score before the Blazers even know what was going on. A back and forth battle ensued once again and the Blazers only took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter is when everything fell apart. Phoenix outscored the Blazers 30-13 and really ran away with this game. Portland could not buy a bucket on one end, but more importantly, Portland could not secure a defensive rebound even if their lives depended on it. Multiple times I saw Eric Bledsoe fly in and grab the rebound while three Blazers surrounded him. Many times I saw Miles Plumlee grab a rebound from the trees and somehow keep ahold of it while being swarmed. The Blazers allowed too many second chance opportunities to a team that really does not get a lot of them.
Looking back, the end of the third quarter was a sign of things to come. Slowly, Portland could not grab those rebounds that they were securing earlier and Phoenix made Portland pay, which is why the Blazers could not get any kind of lead.
Stats tell the whole story. Portland had only six fast break points to Phoenix’s 24. That should raise a red flag. Phoenix had a whopping 59 rebounds to Portland’s 48. Portland had 15 turnovers to Phoenix’s 12. Portland was only able to score nine points of the Suns’ turnovers, while the Suns were able to score a solid 15. Both shot exactly the same from three as they both went 6-for-21 and shot 29%. However, this stat hurts one team more than the other. Can you guess which one? Portland shot 43% from the field while Phoenix shot 40%. Where the stats diverge is at the FT line. Portland was an abysmal 17-for-27 and shot just 63%, while Phoenix went 25-for-31 and shot 81%.
Lillard went 3-for-6 from the line while Wesley Matthews went 2-for-4. The missing disease set in once again.
Individually, Robin Lopez and Nicolas Batum win the award. Batum finished with 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting, just 1-for-6 from three, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and 6 assists. Triple-double watch was up all night and Batum was an animal on the boards early.
Lopez was the sole savior for most of this game. I predict that if the Blazers did not have Lopez, the Suns would have blown Portland out. He finished with 18 points, on 6-for-9 shooting and 13 rebounds, while providing four blocks. With LaMarcus Aldridge getting absolutely swarmed or pushed out, this gave Lopez a lot of open looks and a lot of options.
Was does this mean? Well, as handy as it would have been to have this win, it isn’t the end of the world. Portland still controls their destiny as the next three games are against teams under .500 with two of them being at home. Furthermore, the Golden State game is looking more and more pivotal by the minute, especially since Portland could not grab this victory. It is going to come down to the wire and Portland just needs to continue to win. Just be glad Portland will not be facing Phoenix in the playoffs as that would probably be the scariest matchup out of everybody in the West.
Next up, the New Orleans Pelicans roll into town on Sunday with a tip-off at 6:00 p.m. PST. Anthony Davis has been experiencing some back spasms recently and might be forced to play reduced minutes. Regardless, the Pelicans have been known to give the Blazers trouble in the past even though Portland won in New Orleans in their last matchup. The Pelicans have lost four in a row and will look to bounce back accordingly. Stay tuned!