Road blues continue
Phoenix fritters double-digit leads
PORTLAND, Ore —. There is nothing middle of the road about the Suns on the road.
The Suns took their four-game winning streak to the Rose Garden on Saturday night but wound up with the usual thorns in the Rose City, where they lost their seventh consecutive regular-season game by losing double-digit leads in the second and third quarters.
Portland was the team that extended its winning streak to five games with a 96-93 victory that the Suns still led with 6:49 to go.
The Suns (11-16) fell to 2-13 on the road this season despite being in position, just like road losses at Toronto, Memphis and Philadelphia.
Rookie of the Year frontrunner Marcus Lillard had been kept to a one-for-four first half but went six for eight in the second half for 18 of his 25 points and scored the Trail Blazers’ final seven points. His final basket was a stepback jumper for a 96-91 lead with 41.2 seconds to go, moments after Shannon Brown missed an isolation drive opportunity against Nicolas Batum.
The Suns had the final shot to tie, moving the ball and bodies around until Goran Dragic fired up a clean look from the 3-point line that bricked off the glass and rim for the Suns’ sixth consecutive road loss. The Suns had a timeout that they didn’t use before the last play.
“I think this only helps,” Suns swingman Jared Dudley said. “It shows you what we can do if we keep playing the right way. We were in there. People are probably wondering how we’d play on the road against a good team after we won four in a row at home. We came out and put it to them. They made their run. If we play this way, we’ll win more than we lose.”
The Suns return home tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers, the league’s hottest team with 12 wins in a row.
Portland (13-12) won despite making twice as many turnovers as Phoenix (22 to 11) by shooting 48 percent from the field after the Suns had given up 43 percent shooting during its win streak. The Blazers outscored the Suns 23 to eight at the line with Lillard getting nine of those points off his penetration.
The Suns shot 45 percent, missing their final 10 3-point shots of the game. Marcin Gortat led the team with 18 points and nine rebounds while his backup, Jermaine O’Neal, added another 13 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes, but the Suns could not take advantage of a 36to-22 bench scoring advantage.
The Suns’ meager road success this season did have a formula. In their only two road wins , the Suns had led after every quarter and made more 3-pointers than the opponent.
They also got them against two of the league’s lesser teams in Cleveland and Charlotte. Portland just barely had got back to .500 with a four-game win streak but the Rose Garden is always a more formidable place to visit with Portland at 8-5 there now.
The Suns missed their first five shots and survived a 13-point, eightrebound first quarter by J.J. Hickson by hitting three 3s to lead 25-23 after the first quarter.
Once Suns coach Alvin Gentry went to the all-reserve lineup two minutes into the second quarter, the Suns got their separation just as they had in Wednesday night’s win against Charlotte. That defensiveoriented unit enjoyed a 20-5 run with half of the points coming from Jermaine O’Neal, playing where he started his career half his life ago.
O’Neal twice scored on follows, twice drew shooting fouls and got the other two points on a reverse from the 34-year-old center, who also quieted Hickson.
That second unit’s defense also created four turnovers in that stretch, giving Portland 13 for the half after averaging 14.6 per game for the season.
Blazers starting guard Wesley Matthews did not return for the second half because of a hip issue that made him questionable to play before the game. LaMarcus Aldridge also had been questionable due to an ankle sprain that caused him to miss Friday night’s win against Denver, but he played and looked well .