Suns' defense overwhelms Blazers

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00:01All right, let me break down this game for you. What we saw from the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday

00:05was a team that had to dig deep. They didn't just have to play Portland's game,

00:09they had to beat them at it. And that's exactly what they did, securing a 127-110 victory over

00:15a trailblazer squad that was really hurting with injuries. Now you have to give Portland credit,

00:20even with their lineup decimated, Jeremy Grant was a last-minute scratch due to illness,

00:25joining Drew Holiday, Scoot Henderson, Matisse Thibault, and Blake Wesley on the sideline.

00:30They stuck to their identity. They came out with intense on-ball pressure all over the court,

00:35and were crashing the offensive glass, with a ton of energy and physicality.

00:39But the Suns were up for the challenge, all night long. To be honest, they could have had a much

00:44more comfortable lead, going into halftime, if it weren't for an 8-0 run by Portland to finish the

00:49first quarter, which cut the Suns' lead to just 3 points. Then, the second half started,

00:56and Phoenix came out with a different level of intensity. They hit Portland with a 12-0 run,

01:02right out of the gate, pushing their lead to 15 points, and really setting the tone.

01:09Here's a crazy stat for you. By the middle of the third quarter, the Suns had already set a new

01:13season high with 15 steals. And get this, all 15 of those steals came from the starting lineup,

01:18including a career-high 5 steals, from Ryan Dunn. They finished the game with 19 total steals,

01:26which, according to StatHead, is the most by any team in the entire NBA, so far this season.

01:32Now, Phoenix wasn't perfect. In the first half, they were giving up too many offensive rebounds,

01:37and turning the ball over themselves. But that massive defensive effort in the third quarter,

01:42that was the difference maker. It allowed them to extend their lead, to 20 points by the end of the

01:46quarter. And unlike in Sunday's loss, Portland never came close to getting within single digits for the

01:51rest of the game. That third quarter response was huge, especially because Portland's two main

01:56offensive weapons, Denis Avdija and Shadon Sharp, were consistently getting into the paint, to keep

02:03the Blazers within striking distance, even though their team was shooting terribly from three-point range,

02:09as you'd expect, going 10 for 41, which is just 24 percent. Things got a bit tougher for Phoenix's rim

02:16protection, when Ryan Dunn picked up his third foul, just three minutes into the second quarter.

02:22This forced coach ought to turn to the rookie, Rashear Fleming. The second-round pick got his first

02:27real NBA rotation minutes, playing for six minutes in the second quarter. He played with that over-eager

02:32energy you'd expect from a rookie, making a mistake or two, but you couldn't miss his length.

02:37And the defensive pressure he applied. He also grabbed two defensive rebounds and made two

02:44excellent outlet passes that led directly to fast-break baskets. When Dunn came back to start

02:49the second half, Phoenix really turned up the havoc. With active hands and deflections all over

02:54the place, they managed to get five of those steals. In just the first five minutes of the third

02:59quarter, Dunn's impact was massive. He finished the game with a plus-minus of plus 23. In his 27 minutes

03:06on the court. On the offensive side for the Suns, it was another impressively balanced effort,

03:12which is surprising, considering they were without Grayson Allen and Jalen Green.

03:16Devin Booker led the way with 19 points. Mark Williams added 15. Dylan Brooks had 12.

03:23And then Royce O'Neal and Ryan Dunn each chipped in 9 points. Now, if you're doing the math,

03:29that means the remaining 63 points all came from the bench unit. Colin Gillespie was,

03:34once again, the leader of that second unit, putting up 19 points and dishing out six assists.

03:40Oso Iguodaro added another 14 points. You might think this was because they were shooting the

03:45lights out, but that wasn't really the case. The team, as a whole, was just 14 for 40 from

03:52three-point range, which is 35%. They also had 24 assists, but turned the ball over 18 times.

03:59For the Blazers, Shaden Sharp was the standout, shooting 12 of 24 for a game-high 29 points.

04:06Denny Avdija added 19 points on 7 of 17 shooting. Interestingly, those two were only responsible for

04:13three of the Blazers' 20 total turnovers, which was a team-wide issue. A nice story was Arizona's

04:19own Caleb Love, who got his first real playing time of the year and made the most of it. He scored 13

04:25points in the first half alone and finished with 17, making him the only other Blazer to score in

04:30double figures. So, do you think this defensive performance is a sign of things to come for the

04:35Suns, or was it just a one-off against a depleted team?

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