Phoenix Suns at Portland Trail Blazers

· National Basketball Association

Phoenix Suns

14-13, 7-5 Away

Final
104 - 109

Portland Trail Blazers

7-19, 3-9 Home

Trail Blazers erase 22-point deficit for 109-04 win over Suns

Anfernee Simons drains big 3 for Blazers

The loss for the Suns was their fifth in seven games. Phoenix’s Kevin Durant led all scorers with 40 points while Devin Booker had 26 points and seven assists.

Simons' layup with 10.7 seconds left helped stop a late Phoenix rally after Portland pushed their lead to 14 in the 4th quarter.

“I was trying to decide whether to go up with two hands or shoot a floater and at the last minute I switched it to a floater,” Simons said of his final basket.

Ayton played a game-high 40 minutes and put up a season-high 18 field goal attempts against his former team. The former No. 1 pick downplayed any extra motivation against the team that drafted him.

“I’ve just been focused on being a Trail Blazer and establishing who we are in this league," Ayton said. "I’m too focused on that right now. They were just in the way.”

Blazers coach Chauncey Billups wanted Ayton focused.

“I ran some plays for him early to try and get him aggressive and going,” Billups said. “Of course you will have extra juice against your former team. But I thought the last couple of days that I needed to start playing him more.”

Jerami Grant also had 22 points for Portland, while Malcolm Brogdon had 14 points and four assists off the bench. Brogdon started the second half in place of Shaedon Sharpe, who left the game with a groin injury.

Portland was hot from the 3-point line all night, making 14 of 28 3-pointers to just five for Phoenix.

“They made nine more 3s than we did. It was pretty much even everywhere else,” Durant said.

Another reason for Portland’s second half success was taking better care of the ball. Portland had 11 turnovers in the first half, but only six turnovers after halftime.

Portland took its first lead since the opening minute of the game at 68-67 with 6:06 left in the third quarter. The Blazers outscored Phoenix 38-20 in the third quarter, helping them take an 87-81 lead into the final frame.

The Suns jumped to a 36-20 lead after the first quarter and pushed their lead to as many as 22 in the first half. Phoenix’s defense was the catalyst to their success as they scored 23 points on 17 Blazers turnovers.

Suns: Play Friday at the Sacramento Kings.

Trail Blazers: Host the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Recent Plays

4th 0.0	End of Game	104 - 109
4th 0.0	End of the 4th Quarter	104 - 109
4th 3.0	Malcolm Brogdon defensive rebound	104 - 109
4th 3.0	Grayson Allen misses 28-foot three point jumper	104 - 109
4th 4.1	Jusuf Nurkic offensive rebound	104 - 109

Statistics

PHX		POR
42-94	FG	39-87
45	Field Goal %	45
5-23	3PT	14-28
22	Three Point %	50
15-21	FT	17-19
71	Free Throw %	89
47	Rebounds	42
14	Offensive Rebounds	10
33	Defensive Rebounds	32
23	Assists	23
10	Steals	8
6	Blocks	4
13	Turnovers	15
2	Team Turnovers	2
15	Total Turnovers	17
1	Technical Fouls	0
1	Total Technical Fouls	0
0	Flagrant Fouls	0
15	Points Conceded Off Turnovers	23
20	Fast Break Points	6
62	Points in Paint	36
15	Fouls	18
16	Largest Lead	14