At 9:00 a.m. Beijing time on January 2, a new round of the NBA regular season has begun, and the Suns are at home against the Trail Blazers. In the Suns' last game against the Magic, Beal returned, and after the Big Three reunited, they played the most iconic game of the season so far. With only six points off the bench, the Big Three combined for 77 points to win the game. After three straight wins, the Suns also improved their record to 17-15 and ranked 8th in the West. And this game Durant can finally get a rest, led by Beal and Booker.
The Trail Blazers are looking to rebuild this season, allowing Ayton and Henderson, Sharpe and Simmons Jr. to quickly familiarize themselves with the team's playbook and the league's tempo. After 1-1 against the Spurs, who are at the bottom of the West, for the second time in a row, the Trail Blazers continue to remain in the bottom 2 positions in the West. The Trail Blazers suffered another injury and consecutive absences, and the Trail Blazers suffered a lot on the offensive end. However, as a result, Henderson can also enter the starting lineup and better develop the point guard role. Henderson has provided more than 10 assists in two of his last four games. The starting lineups for this game were the Suns, who sent Beal, Nurkic, Booker, Metu and Allen. The Trail Blazers used Henderson, Grant, Brogdon, Thybulle, and Brown.
In the first quarter of the game, Nurkic made fouls under the basket, and Beal and Booker broke through one after another. Grant of the Trail Blazers scored six points in a row on the basket, and Brown scored with a strong dunk. Henderson scored five straight points on a layout to make it a 9-0 run. Booker fell into a slump across the board after scoring a goal in the opening game, hitting all five shots in the last five attempts. Fortunately, role player Bates hit a three-pointer in time, and Beal and Allen broke through the basket to bite the difference. The Trail Blazers were the same, with Sharpe and Henderson scoring on breakaways, and Grant and Thybulle hitting two three-pointers in a row. Allen Kazuo was related to 2 three-pointers and also colored. The first quarter ended with the Suns trailing the Trail Blazers by nine points, 20-29.
In the second quarter of the game, Beal scored 4 points in a row from the middle distance, and the Suns substitutes Gordon and Ball broke through one after another, and a wave of 8-0 closed the difference to 1 point. As Gordon seized the opportunity to make a layup, the Suns took the lead. Bol was reused by Vogel in this game to great effect, and then hit a solid three-point shot from the outside. Metu scored 5 points in a row with a relay in the air, and a knife from the outside line. Nurkic scored 7 points in a row to score 2+1 under the basket. Booker missed all three shots in the quarter. In the final period, Brogdon hit two three-pointers in a row to save the momentum. At halftime, the Suns led the Trail Blazers by eight points, 55-47.
In the halftime statistics, Allen had 12 points and 2 rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting. Beal finished with 10 points, two rebounds and one assist on 4-of-9 shooting. Nurkic had nine points, one rebound and two assists. Metu had 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Booker finished with three points, seven rebounds and four assists on 1-of-9 shooting. Bol had five points and four rebounds. Gordon 4 points. For the Trail Blazers, Henderson finished with 13 points, two rebounds and three assists on 5-of-9 shooting. Grant had 9 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists. Brogdon had 8 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. Thybulle had 3 points and 4 rebounds. Baggy 4 points. Sharp 4 points.
In the second half, Nurkic continued his offensive form and scored six consecutive points under the basket. Grant of the Trail Blazers scored four points on a burst shot, and Brogdon also scored on a basket. The Suns Metu scored a three-pointer from the outside to extend the advantage to 13 points. It was Grant who stepped up and scored in the paint, and Henderson hit the mid-range. However, the Suns' Beal scored 4 points in a row on a pull-up jumper, Nurkic and Booker hit 2 three-pointers in the final period, and Gordon scored 5 points in a row inside and outside, and the difference was further widened. At the end of the third quarter, the Suns led the Trail Blazers by 25 points, 86-61.
In the final quarter of the game, the Trail Blazers bench Walker and Murray scored 8 points in a row, and Gordon and Beal made consecutive kills to stabilize the advantage through free throws. Bol grabbed the offensive board and scored a rebound. Beal scored seven points in a row from the outside. With Booker's emergency stop mid-range hit, the game lost suspense, and the two sides switched to the bench in advance. In the end, the Suns defeated the Trail Blazers by 21 points, 109-88. Durant's absence from this game also gave the outside world the best opportunity to test Beal, and after Beal returned from injury, it took only 2 games to break all doubts.
In the game, Beal scored 21 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist on 8-of-16 shooting. Nurkic finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 6-of-8 shooting. Metu had 14 points and five rebounds. Allen had 12 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Booker finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists on 4-of-16 shooting. Gordon had 12 points and three rebounds. Bol had 11 points and nine rebounds. For the Trail Blazers, Henderson finished with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks on 7-of-18 shooting. Grant had 15 points and three assists. Brogdon had 10 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Thybulle had 3 points and 4 rebounds. Walker had 10 points and nine rebounds. Ish 8 points.