The Phoenix Suns have fallen in an emotional, overtime defeat against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, with both teams fighting for control over the final 15 minutes.
The game was full of misses that cost the Suns who were ahead by double-digits in the second quarter. In the end in the contest, Deandre’s deliberately missed second free-throw fell on the shoulders of Jock Landale.
Jock Landale’s miss on a putback ruled out an extra overtime when The Phoenix Suns fell short in an 113-111 defeat in the match against Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center.
The Suns played well in the opening minutes and quickly, with Deandre Ayton demonstrating his talents against a weak Jusuf Nurkic. The game ended with a swift three to the delight of the crowd as well as those who watched at home.
Phoenix scored an early lead of 19-9 at the halfway point of the first however, in what could be a trend due to their weak bench the team struggled to finish the first quarter. In contrast, Damian Lillard began to increase his scoring with his 14 points keeping Phoenix Trail Blazers within three.
Phoenix established their lead again in the second period, leaving Portland’s offense buried with no shot-creation from Lillard. The superstar returned and continued his masterclass, scoring massive 28 points in the first quarter with shooting 8-for-12 and 4-for-7 shooting from three. He was Trail Blazers’ superstar single was able to keep his team in check while the rest of the team teamed with 19 points. Phoenix also had issues with the ball outside Ayton as well as Devin Booker’s 15 points each. Both players scored 11-for-18. other than that the Suns were 9-for-25 on the floor.
Lillard continued to shine during the third quarter, however Phoenix maintained their reach, taking the lead by four points going to the 4th. The lead was not long-lasting, however when a pair Justice Winslow free-throws, followed by an Nassir Little jumper, ended the game with 79 points.
Both teams failed to take the lead throughout the rest of the contest regardless of whether Portland could have snatched the lead by five points with just five minutes left. This was quickly wiped out by an Damion Lee triple as well as an Ayton dunk. Then, an Ayton dunk and a Booker jump shot and driving layup allowed the Suns an advantage of 99-97 with just 90 seconds left.
An Anfernee Simons 3 brought an Trail Blazers back in front, Chris Paul responded with an easy layup at the other end, and Nurkic took the lead back with two free-throws. Nurkic then presented Mikal Bridges with that exact chance at the line but the Suns forward converted only one shot to leave the game tied.
After stealing at the defensive end Booker’s sidestep attempt to score was unsuccessful, as was Lillard’s three-point shot at the final buzzer. After Paul made a famous jumper with just 1:40 left in the game, they Suns stood in the game with a five-point advantage.
However, the Suns offense went off the rails for four consecutive possessions and their Trail Blazers capitalized on their opportunities that included two drives towards the goal line. The decisive shot of the game was a difficult driving hook by Simons to over Bridges.
Ayton was disqualified at 1.2 seconds left before failing to make the first. He intentionally did not miss the second one, however Landale failed to make a play on what could be considered a simple layup.
Next: Phoenix Suns: Taking positives from Chris Paul’s benching in the final minutes of the game
A disappointing performance in the Suns who only managed to stand more than Booker as well as Ayton. They scored 60 points, while Lillard scored 41 points on Portland’s side. The team’s stats were similar with that of Mavericks match, as both team shooting similar numbers but Phoenix had more field goal attempts, and Portland had Trail Blazers 15 more free-throws.
Phoenix is now heading towards Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Sunday night.
