Tonight, the Phoenix Suns hosted the Portland Trail Blazers for the second time this season, and they came away with a convincing victory. Tonight, Phoenix played basketball that lived up to the high standards their supporters have come to expect of them.

Three Major Players Did Their Thing

Even though none of the three Suns starters reached the 20-minute mark tonight, the team still managed to score 49 points. It was a 19-point, 4-assist double-double by Durant and Booker. Booker scored 17 of his total points in the opening period. Bradley Beal’s 11 points on 2-7 shooting was the lowest total among the three. Beal added two assists, with a fantastic crossover and a nice dump off to his big man contributing to the first.

Defense in Place

The Suns had a fantastic defensive performance. The Phoenix Suns’ defense was led by Jordan Goodwin, who recorded four thefts in just four minutes of action. Three Trail Blazers who played more than ten minutes were held to five points or less by the Suns. Phoenix was also successful in limiting Portland’s three-point shooting to below the league average (just 18.9%).

Today, Grayson Allen started for the Suns instead of Josh Okogie. Both have been competing for the fifth and final starting slot. Allen shot 5 for 9 from the field and scored 13 points, also dishing out 2 assists. Okogie contributed 8 points, 5 boards, and 2 helpers. Okogie played 21 minutes and Allen played 20, so they were quite evenly matched. Of all Suns players, Josh Okogie had the best plus/minus rating (+20). The plus/minus for Allen was +18.

In their final exhibition game, the Phoenix Suns will once again travel the road. On Thursday, the 19th, the Suns will take their basketball team to Los Angeles to take on LeBron and the Lakers. The game will start at 7:00 p.m. PST.