On Monday, 1 January 2024, The Phoenix Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers with a 109-88 scoreline in order to continue their winning streak with a fourth straight victory at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Phoenix took a 25-point lead in the third quarter and started to move towards victory even though Devin Booker was struggling to score. Kevin Durant, the team’s second-leading scorer, missed the game due to right hamstring tightness and had his second-lowest total this season with 10 points on 4 of 16 shots.
Booker, however, was not demotivated by this, and he went on to provide additional impact on the game by scoring record high eight rebounds and six assists for the team
The NBA tournament saw the return of Eric Gordon, the American-Bahamian basketball shooting guard for the Phoenix Suns, who was previously benched due to right calf soreness but had received the green light to play on the New Year’s match.
After playing without scoring in Phoenix’s victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday, Gordon returned at the Footprint Center to put in 12 points for his team. Phoenix took a halftime lead after trailing Portland in the first quarter, thanks in large part to a second-quarter comeback sparked by Suns reserve big man Bol Bol, who recorded a season-high 11 points and nine rebounds.
Scoot Henderson of Portland, the number one overall pick in 2023, scored a team-high 17 points in their defeat. The Suns’ next game, the first between the Pacific Division foes this season, is scheduled for Wednesday at home versus the Los Angeles Clippers.
First dub of 2024! pic.twitter.com/oSwiCRgdnC
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 2, 2024
Starting Lineups and Performances
The starting lineup for the Suns included Grayson Allen on the wing, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal at guard, and Chimezie Metu and Jusuf Nurkic in the front court.
Malcolm Brogdon, the NBA’s 2023 Sixth Man of the Year winner, started for the Trail Blazers in the backcourt alongside rookie Scoot Henderson, their top draft choice, Jerami Grant, Matisse Thybuille, and Moses Brown in the middle.
Kevin Durant’s right hamstring strain kept him out of the game, but the Suns still had seven players with double figures, with Bradley Beal scoring the highest 21 points. Playing against his former team, Jusuf Nurkic scored eighteen points; Durant’s starter, Chimezie Metu, scored fourteen points, while Grayson Allen and reserve Eric Gordon each scored twelve.
Nurkic talked about the amazing performance of Beal, who returned on Friday, 29 December 2023, from an ankle injury, saying, “He changes everything. It’s simple. We depend on him. When he’s out there, it doesn’t matter what he does. Just being out there makes a big difference for our team.”
Despite being limited to 10 points on 4 of 16 shots, Phoenix star Devin Booker still managed to grab 8 rebounds and dish out 6 assists, while Bol Bol’s 11 points and 9 rebounds helped offset Durant’s absence.
On the other side, Scoot Henderson led the Trail Blazers with 17 points, Jabari Walker and Malcolm Brogdon each tallied 10 points, and Jerami Grant scored fifteen.
Portland was ahead 29–20 at the end of the first quarter but lost the following two quarters 66–32 as Phoenix started to build up to a 26-point lead in the game.
The Blazers’ last road victory came against Cleveland on November 30. A seven-game losing drought for Portland came to a stop on December 19 when they defeated the Suns 109-104.
In September, Phoenix acquired Nurkic and Allen as part of a three-way trade with Portland and Milwaukee, which also saw Ayton move from the Suns to the Trail Blazers.
Bol Bol euro step and FLUSH 😤
Trail Blazers-Suns | Live on the NBA App
📲 https://t.co/WfH3FJ6tZs pic.twitter.com/sTw1akEz7Y— NBA (@NBA) January 2, 2024
What is the NBA?
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the major professional basketball-themed sports leagues in North America, made up of 29 American and 1 Canadian teams who perform in it. Founded in New York City on 6 June 1946, it is now considered to be the premier professional basketball league in the world.
The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are the two teams with the most NBA championships amongst all the teams, each 17-time champion. The reigning league champions from the 2022-23 season are the Denver Nuggets, who defeated the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals.
As the fourth wealthiest professional sports league in the entire world, the matches are broadcast on several channels like ESPN in America and TSN in Canada, along with its own sports-oriented television network called NBA TV.
