Takeaways From Suns' Tight Victory

The Phoenix Suns came alive in the third quarter, but still had to fight to escape the Portland Trail Blazers.

Nov 2, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) slam dunks over Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) in the second half during a game at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-Imagn Images / Allan Henry-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns are now 5-1 a week and a half into the season following a 44-point explosion in the third quarter to subdue Deandre Ayton and the Portland Trail Blazers at Footprint Center Saturday night.

The Suns showed us much of the same in this game - very high highs and confounding lows - but that doesn't mean the positives can't be magnified after a spectacular third quarter showing.

Three takeaways as Phoenix continues the quest to be the top seed in the West:

Another Slow Start

The Suns have made a pattern of starting the game slow and finishing it in nearly indestructible fashion. After falling ahead by large margin to both Los Angeles squads in the last week, they started 6-20 from the field (30%) and two turnovers apiece from Grayson Allen and Kevin Durant.

The first quarter only yielded 22 points despite being efficient from both three-point range (4-11) and the free-throw line (6-8).

Phoenix then proceeded to start quick in the second frame just to fall behind by 4 going into halftime. This was perhaps the most perplexing first-half performance of the young season considering the level of perceived competition.

Could this be correlated to the issues that Jusuf Nurkic has presented thus far this season? Could it be Tyus Jones still trying to find his way in the grand scheme of an elite offense? Could it be Mike Budenholzer still trying to optimize the first quarter lineups vs each specifc matchup?

It could be a bit of all of the above, and will continue to be something of interest moving forward.

Suns Stick to the Script - For Better or Worse

The Suns started out fairly well from three-point range in the first 12 minutes of the game - but managed to go ice cold in the next 12.

They went 4-for-16, with Allen hitting two of them.

This isn't necessarily a reason to hit the panic button, as the Suns have generally been efficient from all three levels this season.

Fortunately, they were able to break out of the trance and earn a victory to move to 5-1. We all know that won't be the case 100% of the time moving forward. And that's totally fine.

The ebbs and flows of an 82-game slate make off shooting nights a natural occurrence. Ryan Dunn will have games where he will be off. Allen has taken some time to get back to game speed. Even stars such as Devin Booker are prone for a very infrequent inefficient night. The Suns need to continue to stick to the identity that has been formed early no matter the end result.

Grayson Allen Back in Form

The Suns' sixth man came to play in his fourth game of the season.

After shooting a concerning 23.1% from deep in this limited sample of play, he came alive, chipping in 18 points on an all-around efficient scoring performance while also bringing three blocks to the table.

Allen had come into the season as a potential dark-horse sixth man of the year candidate - and if tonight is any sign, the sharpshooter can absolutely be a factor in the conversation moving forward.

This is beyond significant for a franchise that suffered from lukewarm benches in previous seasons. Coach Budenholzer can arguably run as far as 12-deep in the regular season - with many of those 12 bringing prior playoff experience into April and beyond as well.

The next time Phoenix is in action will be Monday night as they are set to take on the Philadelphia 76ers.