3 Takeaways from Suns’ Narrow Win vs Blazers

The Suns came out on top against Portland, showing some promising signs but also a few flaws.

Dec 15, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) and forward Kevin Durant (35) react between plays in the second half during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-Imagn Images / Allan Henry-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns bested the Portland Trail Blazers 116-109 at home Sunday night to pick up their second straight victory.

Without Bradley Beal (right knee swelling) again, Phoenix (14-11) was still able to find some rhythm on both sides of the ball against a gritty Blazers (8-18) team.

Devin Booker notched 28 points to lead the way, as six Suns scored in double figures. You can read a recap of the win here.

Here are some takeaways from the victory:

Royce O'Neale, Tyus Jones Continue to be Efficient

Tyus Jones, the league leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, finished with an uncharacteristic four assists to two turnovers, but was able to continue to steady the offense with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, while going 3-for-3 from 3-point range.

Jones is now shooting an incredible 58.7% (27-for-46) from downtown over Phoenix's last eight games, showcasing how even more dangerous the Suns can be with his shooting upside.

"The more aggressive he is. I think the better we are as a team," coach Mike Budenholzer said of Jones postgame. "I think that's hard for him to wrap just his basketball intellect and his point guard kind of nature, but when he's aggressive, I think we are at our best, and he's done that some recently. We need more."

Royce O'Neale, who got his fifth straight start with Beal out, has also been consistently lighting it up from deep, shooting 37-for-70 (52.9%) from three over the last 10 games after a 3-for-6 outing against Portland. O'Neale's 13 points marked his seventh-straight game in double figures.

“It felt like he started the season shooting it really well, now he's on another (hot stretch)," Budenholzer said of O'Neale. "Last few games, he’s just played with a lot of confidence, he gets to good spots (and) understands the spacing."

Pump-faking the pass & knocking down the triple 👌 pic.twitter.com/mKTjh6pQjn

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 16, 2024

The Suns are getting a lot out of their role players of late led by Jones and O'Neale, who appear to not be slowing down anytime soon.

Kevin Durant's Playmaking Opening up Offense

The Suns are now 13-2 on the year when Kevin Durant is active, and the superstar forward made his presence felt Sunday despite a poor shooting performance.

Durant ended with 20 points while shooting 9-for-23 from the field and 1-for-9 from deep to go along with seven rebounds and a game-high seven assists. He also only had one turnover even with the Blazers throwing a lot of junk defenses at him.

After recording eight assists in his return from an ankle injury in Friday's win over the Utah Jazz, Durant now has two straight games with seven or more assists despite not recording a single game with more than six this season up until Friday.

He also averaged a team-high 3.3 turnovers in this beginning stretch, but has only recorded two turnovers total against Portland and Utah, providing a lot more stability for the Phoenix offense.

Phoenix still needs to find ways to win when Durant is not in the lineup, but tonight was a good step forward on how it can win even when his shot is not falling.

Kevin Durant on the Blazers' fight: "They just threw a lot of junk in the game, all game, zoning, switching everything, playing five smalls, pressing....We're gonna need to continue to battle through stuff like that, 'cause teams are gonna try to throw us off our rhythm" pic.twitter.com/n2mYfOM7YF

— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) December 16, 2024

Suns' Mid-Game Lulls Carry On

This could have been a smoother sailing victory for Phoenix, but the Blazers capitalized on some big-time runs throughout the course of the night, as many teams have been able to do against the Suns.

After the Suns took a 37-24 lead early in the second quarter, Portland responded with a 10-0 run. Phoenix built its lead back up to 57-51 at halftime, but the Blazers then took their first lead of the game with an 11-0 burst to start the third quarter.

Phoenix ultimately established a solid 13-point advantage with under 1:30 to go in the game to seemingly put it out of reach, but Portland went on an 8-0 run in one minute of game time to quickly get back into it before Booker hit two free throws with six seconds left to seal the deal.

"We had a couple good looks that didn't go in," Budenholzer said of the ending. "They made a few threes, so you like to be a little cleaner going in the last two minutes, but it's a good win. They're hard to play against. They're athletic and young. Chauncey (Billups) is doing a great job with them, so it's a good win for us.”

Overall, this was a game the Suns were expected to win and they got the job done, just as they did against Utah on Friday.

They will have two more opportunities for some winnable games the rest of the week beginning with the Indiana Pacers (12-15) at home Thursday and Detroit Pistons (10-16) at home Saturday.