Powered by a 25-point performance by Damian Lillard, double-doubles by Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan, and a 43-point second quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers stomped the Phoenix Suns 132-119 to stay undefeated on the road this season and move to 6-1 overall.
Portland starts its campaign 5-0 on the road for the first time in 36 years. Clingan’s season-high 24-point, 11-rebound outing is his 47th career double-double. The UConn product anchored the paint all night, rejecting three shots at the rim. Avdija finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists, while Lillard added three rebounds and five assists, shooting 9-for-17 from the field.
“I feel like we locked in on defense (in the second quarter),” Clingan told Blazers’ courtside reporter Brook Olzendam postgame. “We were forcing them to take the shots we wanted them to take. They were just making a lot of tough shots in the first quarter. We started to pick up the pressure a little bit. We picked up the intensity and we got the job done.”
Jrue Holiday recorded 15 points and four rebounds off the bench. Toumani Camara pitched in 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. Robert Williams III, meanwhile, scored nine points, pulled down eight rebounds, nabbed two steals and blocked three shots in just under 16 minutes.
Devin Booker had a game-high 33 points to lead the Suns, fouling out. Jalen Green had 22 points. Miles Bridges and Dillon Brooks added 18 and 15 points, respectively.
Portland shot 51.2 percent (44 of 86) overall and 35.9 percent from 3-point range (14 of 39). The Blazers shot a season-high 41 free throws, a mark they’ve reached thrice, sinking 30 of them. Phoenix struggled mightily from the arc, shooting 10-for-36 from three to dip its field goal percentage down to 44.6 percent.
As mentioned in the Blazers On SI game preview, the Suns horrendous defense led to their downfall, along with their inability to create quality looks due to Portland’s tough defense. The Blazers’ second-quarter avalanche overwhelmed Phoenix, as they shot an incredible 14-for-19 (73.7 percent), 6-for-11 from the 3-point line (54.5 percent) and 9-for-13 on free throws in the period.
Clingan made all three of his shots in the secord quarter, including one 3-pointer and a free throw, to score eight points. By far his best performance of the young season, the 7-foot-2, 280-pound big-man ultimately finished 9-for-12, 1-for-2 from three and 5-for-6 from the free line.
His 60.7 percent field goal percentage the last two games — averaging 16 shot attempts — is considerably higher than his first five games of the season. He’s finishing better at the rim, but most importantly, he’s becoming more of rolling threat, a noticeable hole in his offensive repertoire in October.
Avdija, meanwhile, continued to do Avdija things; a maniac in transition, he sliced through Phoenix’s defense with relative ease, feeding open teammates like a grandma on Thanksgiving. And despite Lillard’s continued shooting struggles from deep, he remains a constant threat, relentlessly attacking the rim.
His spat with Brooks in the third quarter epitomized his aggression. The two jawed at each other, as NBA players do, and needed to be separated by the officials. They weren’t going to fight, obviously, but they were in each other’s faces, clearly at odds.
This is a developing story. Return to this page for live updates and ongoing coverage from the Portland Trail Blazers On SI.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
