National Basketball Association

Phoenix Suns v Portland Trail Blazers 11/8 Preview

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Phoenix Suns (2-5) v Portland Trail Blazers (4-3)

Tuesday 11/8/16 8:00pm

Moda Center

Fox Sports Arizona/Arizona Sports 98.7

Season Series – Suns lead 1-0

All-Time Series – Phoenix Suns lead 120-96

Last matchup – Nov. 2, 2016 – Suns 118 – Blazers 115 OT

Suns’ last game – 119-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers

Blazers’ last game – 100-94 win over the Memphis Grizzlies

Suns’ Scoring Averages – 105.7 PTS/G – 113.3 OPP PTS/G

Blazers’ Scoring Averages – 108.3 PTS/G – 109.3 OPP PTS/G

Preview

Phoenix Suns

The Suns let themselves become flustered in the final minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers and were unoble to pull out the victory despite Devin Booker’s career high 39 points, the youngest player to score 38+ in two consecutive games, ever, and the first Sun to score 38+ in consecutive games since Tom Chambers. For a recap of the game, read here…Devin Booker has taken over the Suns’ scoring average lead from T.J. Warren at 23.0 to Warren’s 21.7…The last Suns team to have two players average over 20 points per game in a season was 2003-04 with Stephon Marbury averaging 20.8 and Amar’e Stoudemire averaging 20.6…Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker are shooting an ice cold 13-50 from three combined…After a 6-20 game from behind the three-point line as a team against the Lakers, the Suns are still shooting an icy .289 from long distance; Booker, Eric Bledsoe, and Brandon Knight are a combined 22-86, although Warren and Jared Dudley are a combined 14-33…Tyson Chandler continues to dominate the boards averaging 13.3 rebounds per game. Chandler is 1st in defensive rebounds and total rebounds, and 3rd in the league in rebounds per game behind only Andre Drummond and Hassan Whiteside. The Suns are also currently 1st in the league in rebounding as a team…Speaking of 1st place, they are 1st in 2pt field goals made and attempted…The Suns are second in free throws made and attempted, although they are 16th in FT%…At 27.7 personal fouls per game (three overtimes don’t help) the Suns are now dead last in fouls per game. Alex Len and Marquese Chriss average over 6.9 and 6.3 fouls per 36 minutes…Phoenix’s 113.3 points opponents scoring allowed currently ranks them last in the league…The rookies appear to be taking a backseat for now. Marquese Chriss only played for about 90 seconds against the Lakers, whereas Dragan Bender and Tyler Ulis have been DNPCD’s for three consecutive games…The only game Bender has even made a field goal was in the season opener against Sacramento. He is 0-4 since…

Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers are currently sitting 5th in the Western Conference at 4-3…The Blazers are 1-2 at home…Portland has won two straight and also put forth their best two defensive outings of the season in those games, allowing 95 and 94 points to Dallas and Memphis. As a result, the Blazers’ points allowed dropped from 115.2 prior to those two games to 109.3, although that still ranks 26th in the league…Damian Lillard is still averaging an astounding 32.0 points per game, although the Blazers only have three players averaging in double-digit scoring with C.J. McCollum and Maurice Harkless (if you discount Jake Layman’s one appearance where he scored 17 points in the eight garbage time minutes against the Warriors)…Unlike the Suns, Portland is 2nd in three pointers made (11.3), 3rd in attempts (29.3), and 4th in percentage (.385%). In fact, Lillard, McCollum, Evan Turner, Noah Vonleh, and Layman all average over .400 from beyond the arc. Lillard is 2nd in the league in three’s made (20), and McCollum is 6th (17)…Look for Tyson Chandler and Alex Len to have a field day on the boards against the Portland bigs. Portland is 27th in opponents offensive rebounds per game (11.0), 29th in defensive rebounds per game (36.4) and 28th in total rebounds per game allowed (47.4)…

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