Heading into last night’s game, the Suns were long shots to get their third victory of the season. At the time, they were playing against a Trail Blazers squad with the best record in the Western Conference and Phoenix hadn’t exactly played very well themselves with a 2-4 mark.
Those two things were immediately thrown out at first tip as the Suns got out of the gates fast. Phoenix scored 30 points in the first quarter and got off to a 11-point lead, a lead they would never come close to relinquising in their 102-77 win over Portland on Friday night.
Here are the three big keys to the Suns shocking W over the Blazers.
1. Portland’s Fatique
After their big performance against the Lakers last night, it was clear that the Blazers never had their legs from the beginning. Several of their key players played big time minutes the night before in their win over Los Angeles and the entire team got into Phoenix at around 4 a.m. this morning. Credit the Suns for getting off to a fast start and never letting up after they got a big early lead.
2. Balanced Phoenix Attack
When the Phoenix offense is clicking on all cylinders, the entire roster is playing well and that was the case on Friday. Six players; three starters and three bench players, had double-digit point totals. Jared Dudley led the way with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Steve Nash had 17, Shannon Brown had his best game of the young season putting 14 points on the scoreboard, Markieff Morris chipped in with 13 and Marcin Gortat and Hakim Warrick had 12 points a piece.
3. Fabulous Suns Defense
It remains to be seen what kind of team the Suns will be this season, but it is becoming more clear that they are playing much better defensively compared to recent years. The Trail Blazers were horrific on the offensive end thanks in large part to the Suns D. Portland shot about 32 percent from the field and knocked down just 2-of-19 attempts from three-point range. Portland also committed 17 turnovers on the night. Not a pretty night to say the least.
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