The Phoenix Suns continue their search for consistency and good health when they host the Portland Trail Blazers Sunday night at the Footprint Center.
After missing three games due to an ankle injury, Kevin Durant returned to the Suns’ lineup and scored 30 points in a win over the Utah Jazz on Friday night, but the Suns still weren’t at full strength. Star guard Bradley Beal sat out with knee soreness, helping fuel speculation that the Suns may be in the market for a trade with Heat guard Jimmy Butler’s name being floated.
The Suns’ Big Three of Durant, Beal and Devin Booker have played together for only 175 minutes this season. Beal is listed as day to day.
Booker has been forced to carry the load and has averaged just under 26 points a game. He tied a season high with six treys in the win over the Jazz. Suns center Jusuf Nurkic also returned for the Suns against the Jazz after missing two weeks with a quad injury.
Suns fans were pleased to get Durant back for a team that has hovered around .500 but had bigger expectations.
“He is such a dynamic scorer,” said Suns coach Mike Budenholzer of Durant after Friday’s win. “He can just shoot over guys and he creates double-teams (in the post) where he pulls guys in. He’s a great scorer and great playmaker.”
Portland, meanwhile, has lost nine of their last 11 games and blew a 17-point second-half lead in a loss to the Spurs on Friday. Still, Blazers coach Chauncey Billups remains upbeat.
“I was proud of our group, I thought we played hard as heck, and there are so many things we can learn from,” said Billups.
Blazers rookie center Donovan Clingan returned to the floor after missing almost three weeks with a sprained MCL. He played 15 minutes and had six points and seven rebounds. For the first time in his short NBA career, he did not block a shot.
“He was a bit rusty down there, but you see the impact he has at the rim,” Billups said. “It’s not just protecting the rim, but rebounding the ball. I thought it was OK.”
The Blazers’ problems continue to be on offense. They rank 29th in the NBA in field-goal shooting at 43.8 percent and are 27th in the NBA in scoring at 106.8 points per game, while they’re allowing 116.1 points per game.
Anfernee Simons leads the Blazers with 17.1 points per game and tied a season high with 30 points in the loss to the Spurs. Jerami Grant had 22 of his 32 points alone in the third quarter Friday, tied for the eighth-most points in a quarter by a player this season.
“They have both struggled offensively,” Billups said. “So it was great to see them both kind of look normal. I mean 22 points in a quarter isn’t normal for anybody, but (Jerami) makes those shots at a pretty good clip and Ant got off and got going.”
The Suns beat the Blazers 103-97 on Nov. 2 in Phoenix.