The Portland Trail Blazers have been playing great basketball recently, and the Phoenix Suns got a close look at that on Saturday.
Now, the Suns will get another chance when they visit Portland for the second game of their two-game set on Monday night.
In the first matchup, Portland won 127-108, leading by as much as 27 points. This was their seventh win in the last eight games.
Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton, facing his former team, played a big role, scoring 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting.
“Played with energy, playing against his former team, you can tell he wanted to play hard,” Suns star Kevin Durant said. “It was a great game for him.”
Ayton was the No. 1 overall pick by Phoenix in 2018 and played five seasons with them before moving to Portland last season.
But Ayton said his strong performance wasn’t about facing his old team.
“I’m here to beat teams, man,” Ayton said. “I’m not really worried about who was in front of us. We’re playing for each other, playing defense and communicating. You can feel it. We are trying to change the tradition around here to a winning culture. We’re just scratching the surface right now.”
This was Ayton’s fourth consecutive game scoring 20 or more points. He’s averaging 22.3 points and 11 rebounds during this stretch.
He’s also made 21 of 24 shots in the last two games. Ayton was 10-of-12 in a win over the Orlando Magic on Thursday.
Portland coach Chauncey Billups was impressed with Ayton’s play.
“He dominated the game, he really did,” Billups said. “He’s obviously always emotional against this team so it was good to see him go dominate the game.”
Before Saturday’s game, the Trail Blazers had lost four straight against Phoenix.
The Suns’ loss was just their fourth in the last 13 games.
Devin Booker led Phoenix with 37 points, marking his second straight game with 30 or more points. However, his scoring wasn’t enough to get them back in the game.
“They’ve been playing good basketball,” Booker said of Portland. “They came out and straight up beat us. They’re playing with a lot of confidence and they’re playing well right now.”
Durant added 22 points, extending his streak of 20 or more points to 24 of the last 25 games.
But the Suns struggled defensively, giving up 98 points in the first three quarters, which hurt their chances, especially after a big win over Golden State the night before.
“Basketball can be fleeting. This league is tough,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Credit to Portland for the way they’re playing. You have to look at what they did to make it happen. We weren’t our best.”
The game was so lopsided that players on both benches seemed more interested in the rumors coming from the fans than the action on the court in the final minutes. Fans were talking about a potential trade involving Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis, sending Doncic to the Lakers and Davis to the Mavericks.
Durant was unsure about the reports at first, until a Suns security officer borrowed a fan’s phone to show him the news.
“Crazy, crazy, crazy league,” Durant said, shaking his head.
Billups said the Blazers heard about the trade rumors in a similar way, with assistant coaches overhearing it from fans in the stands.
