Phoenix Suns Throttle Trail Blazers: 3 Positive Takeaways From The Victory

The Phoenix Suns shook off a two-game losing streak in last night’s 120-90 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. After getting off to a fast start, the Suns stood their ground, outscoring the depleted Portland team every quarter.

The Suns were without both pieces of their All-Star backcourt duo for the first time this season. Still the Suns prevailed, improving their regular season record to 50-12, becoming the first team to reach the 50-win mark this season. Phoenix also acquired the best record at home with 27 wins and 7 losses – ironically passing the Golden State Warriors – who happen to currently hold the #2 spot in the Western Conference along with the second-best overall record in the NBA.

With the playoffs right around the corner, the Suns are looking to secure the top spot in the West. While the win over the Trailblazers seemed destined from tipoff, there were a lot of question marks heading into the game.

One of these was regarding how Phoenix’s offense would perform without their primary scoring option, Devin Booker. However, this was quickly answered as rising stars Cameron Johnson, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges paired with veteran big Jae Crowder to help pick up the slack on the offensive end.

Johnson along with the newly signed forward, Torrey Craig, combined for 33 of the 52 points scored off the bench attributing to a much-needed offensive spark.

According to StatMuse.com, the Suns were ranked fourth best in the league in points-per-game with 113.6 points averaged heading into the game.

In most cases, this was a game where many would have had the outcome predetermined but with an unproven tandem of guards thrusted into the starting lineup together for the first time this season, one of which has not played since January in Cameron Payne, there were a lot of positives that came out of this victory. Let’s look at three takeaways that should keep the Suns optimistic following last night’s game.