The Portland Trail Blazers whipped the Phoenix Suns 92-77 in a battle between teams missing key pieces. The Blazers started without Shaedon Sharpe and lost Deni Avdija to his back issues after about a minute of play; the Suns played without Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Grayson Allen. Eventual impact? Not many points were scored by either team.
Cold Start in Sun Country
The Blazers got off to another slow start, making only five of their first 20 three-point shots and racking up a meager 47 points in the first half. The Suns? They missed their first seven threes, were 2 for 19 at halftime and held the wrong end of a 47-40 score. The final numbers: Blazers 10 of 37 for 27%, Suns 9 of 35 for 26%. Yes, you read that right: the Blazers won the long-range battle tonight hitting just over a quarter of their shots.
One way to make up for spotty success from distance is to snuff your opponent at the rim. Or beyond the three-point line! Five Blazers blocked a total of 11 shots, including four by Donovan Clingan. After missing the Denver game a couple of days ago, the defense was active and generally effective in this one. And speaking of Donovan, he was all over the place: in addition to the blocks, he put up 23 points, 12 rebounds, 3 threes in 6 tries, 3 assists and a steal in 31 minutes that he appeared to thoroughly enjoy!
Scoot Henderson played his 6th game of the season tonight, and the results were mixed. He logged 30 minutes, which buried the minutes restrictions he had been dealing with, and produced the following numbers: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 turnovers, and 1 block with shooting splits of 4 for 14 from the field, 1 for 6 from distance and 2 for 2 from the free-throw line. But as is often the case, those numbers don’t paint the entire picture. He was a sturdy presence on defense and made plays at pivotal moments while contributing to a victory essential for his team after the Denver debacle.
Jerami Grant shared game scoring honors with Donovan at 23 points on 9 of 13 field goals, 3 of 6 from outside and 2 of 3 from the charity stripe. He also threw in 2 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block while holding up his end of an energetic defensive effort by his team. One thing’s for sure: this game is a totally different story without Jerami in the fray tonight.
The Blazers are back home Tuesday for a rendezvous with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Game time is 7pm Pacific.