The Phoenix Suns were winners of three straight and four of their last five as they arrived in Portland to tip-off against the Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Deandre Ayton had 989 points going into the night as he was just 11 points shy of reaching the 1,000 milestone. The Big Fella went to work early as one of the Suns top options in the first half.
Tyler Johnson began to drive into the lane before dishing the ball to Ayton midway through the second quarter. Ayton pulled up for a midrange jumper and knocked down his sixth bucket of the game for his 12th point.
Ayton reached 1,000 points in just 61 career games, the third quickest in Suns history. He trailed only the franchise’s two all-time leading scorers in Walter Davis (43rd game) and Alvan Adams (53rd).
Ayton went on to have himself quite a night in Portland finishing with 21 points on 58.8 percent shooting. He came up two rebounds shy of another double-double as he already leads all rookies with 34 on the season.
Despite Ayton’s solid night, the Suns struggled shooting throughout the game. The Suns were down by as many as 29 in the fourth quarter, but showed their resilience down the stretch to bring the game to within five in the final minute.
Ultimately, their run would come too little too late as they fell to the Blazers 127-120.
Devin Booker scored a team-high 23 points to go along with his five assists, two rebounds and two steals. Johnson did a little bit of everything finishing with 14 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in the loss.
The Suns have a quick turnaround as they head to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. Be sure to catch the action on Fox Sports Arizona.