What a game. The Suns trailed by as many as 19 and won by five for their second-largest comeback win of the season. No Devin Booker. No Jalen Green. No problem.
It started with Portland raining in threes nonstop early, and it looked like things were going to get ugly. Then, the Suns reminded us of who they really are.
The defensive intensity picked up. Collin Gillespie went on an absolute heater, and Grayson Allen and Mark Williams put the finishing touches on the Blazers late. The Suns improve to 31-20 with the victory, and 14-13 on the road.
Collin Gillespie scored a career-high 30 points to go with 10 dimes and 3 steals on 8-14 shooting from deep. Jordan Goodwin put together a complete game with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals in 23 minutes. Mark Williams chipped in with 24 points and 11 rebounds on 11-14 shooting.
First Half
The Suns got off to a rough start. Donovan Clingan scored 9 early points off three triples, and the Blazers just punched Phoenix in the mouth with a 16-4 run to open the game.
Mark Williams finished a three-point play to break up a little of the early Portland momentum. The Blazers followed that up with a pair of threes to make them 6 of 9 from deep to open the quarter with a 24-9 lead.
Things only got uglier as the Blazers pushed the lead to 31-13 with less than five minutes remaining in the period.
It was raining threes in Portland. A strong push from the Suns to close the quarter got them back within striking distance.
After one, Phoenix trailed 41-30. It was only an 11-point defecit but it felt like 21.
Collin Gillespie got hot from deep, and the Suns turned defense into offense here with a pretty sequence from Oso to Gillespie.
The Suns competed like hell in the second quarter, dropping 37 points and making it a ballgame. It was 72-67 at the half. Gillespie led the way with 14 points, and Williams chipped in with 12.
Second Half
The Suns picked up where they left off in the third quarter, jumping out to a 17-10 advantage coming out of the half.
Phoenix won the third quarter by 12 thanks to Collin Gillespie and co. catching fire. The 34-22 advantage was the story of the night after they allowed 41 in the opening quarter. There was some chirping going back and forth, and things started to get a bit heated as the Suns began their run back into the game. Mark Williams began to feast as well, which was a major key for a Blazers team that had struggled to protect the paint in their previous game against Jarrett Allen.
The fourth quarter was more of that from the Villanova product, setting up others and aggressively finding looks for himself with and without the basketball. His relocation and movement shooting off screens and pullups were masterful.
Ryan Dunn hit back-to-back threes to extend Phoenix’s lead to twelve, 116-104.
Jordan Goodwin continued to play his in-your-face, harassing defense to frustrate the Blazers’ ballhandlers and force turnovers. He had 4 steals in this one, but it felt like 10.
In crunch time, Portland went on a run to cut the lead to just five with 1:30 remaining. A Grayson Allen lob to Mark Williams gave them a needed bucket, but Jermai Grant hit a three the following possession to cut it to four.
And then, a step-back three from Grayson Allen and Jrue Holiday turnover put the dagger in the Blazers’ back to seal the deal.
The Suns will host the Warriors back in Phoenix on Thursday night.