Recap: Blazers Eventually Beat The Suns, 127-120

Things stayed close for one quarter, then the Blazers slammed the door on the Suns, enjoying a lazy fourth quarter until some late... unpleasantness in a 127-120 victory (Box Score). Two days after losing to OKC, Portland pulled back into a virtual tie in the West standings. Here are a few essentials from a weird night.

• It wasn’t as close as it looks. Portland was in extended garbage time, and Phoenix suddenly decided to start trying. They took advantage of Portland’s bench, cutting the deficit to 5 late, but the result was never truly in doubt.
• CJ “Mr. Efficiency” McCollum. One game after McCollum had a quite-inefficient 25 points on 24 shots, he scored 26 on 14 shots, including 4-7 from three.
• Ant-tastic! Blazers rookie Anfernee Simons got a third-quarter call-up, scoring 5 points on 2-3 shooting, including a three-pointer, before picking up a few ticky-tack fouls.
• Rodney leaves early. Hood went to the locker room and did not return due to a sore hip. There was no word that it was serious.
• The Suns suck. Self-explanatory. This was not the same team that recently beat the Bucks, at least beyond the names on their jerseys. They didn’t show up for two quarters, fell behind by nearly 30, then only saved face with an irrelevant late run.

What’s Next

Portland heads back on the road, starting Tuesday against the Clippers in Los Angeles.