Portland Trail Blazers vs Phoenix Suns Match Player Stats On Oct 18, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Oct 19, 2017

PHOENIX -- Damian Lillard scored 27 points and the Portland Trail Blazers handed the Phoenix Suns the worst loss in the 50-year history of the franchise in a 124-76 rout on Wednesday night.

The previous worst loss by a Suns team was by 44 points (151-107) to the Seattle SuperSonics on April 2, 1988.

Phoenix trailed by as many as 58 points (118-60) midway through the fourth quarter and more than 50 until the final minute.

Pat Connaughton added 24 points for Portland, who played without guard C.J. McCollum because of a one-game suspension and rookie center Zach Collins (stomach problems) but hardly missed them.

The Portland bench outscored Phoenix 24-0 in the first half, building a 25-point lead that more than doubled in the second half.

Eric Beldsoe had 15 points for the Suns and Devin Booker had 12 points before suffering leg cramps in the third quarter and staying on the bench for the rest of the game.

The Suns shot 28.6 percent from the field (14 of 49) in the first half and missed 10 of 11 3-pointers. They ended shooting 31.5 percent for the game.

Phoenix had just 14 points in the second quarter when the Trail Blazers outscored the Suns 29-7 in the final 9:15, including the final 15 points.

Lillard and Connaughton scored 10 points each for the Trail Blazers, who used a 12-2 run to take the lead for good late in the first quarter.

Shabazz Napier had two 3-pointers in the final 1:32 to give Portland a 29-21 lead after one.

Portland outscored Phoenix 31-14 in the second quarter to take a 60-35 lead at the half, then nine of the first 11 points of the third quarter to push the lead to 32 at 69-37 on an Evan Turner 3-pointer with 9:40 left.

The Blazers pushed the lead to 43 points at 98-55 heading to the fourth. The Suns never got closer than 29 points the rest of the way.

NOTES: Trail Blazers C Zach Collins missed his NBA debut after coming down with a stomach problem about 90 minutes before the game. ... Portland G C.J. McCollum will make his debut when Portland visits the Indiana Pacers on Friday. ... The Suns were without F Jared Dudley (left foot surgery rehab) and C Alex Len (left ankle sprain). ... This is the eighth time the Blazers and Suns have met in a season opener. Portland owns a 6-2 advantage. ... Portland made an NBA-best 44.2 percent of their 3-pointers in preseason and kept it going b of their 3-pointers in preseason and kept it going by making 14 of 24 (58.3 percent) in the opener. ... The game not only began the 50th season in Suns history but was the 1,000th regular season game at Talking Stick Arena, where Phoenix is 652-348.