Teammates for a fleeting moment over the weekend, Chris Paul and Damian Lillard will get back to being adversaries when the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers open their second-half schedules at Portland, Ore.
Paul helped the Suns to a revival in the first half, along with Devin Booker, as Phoenix built a 24-11 record. Now comes a second-half push for their first playoff appearance since falling in the 2010 Western Conference Finals.
Paul shined as a ball distributor, dishing out 8.8 assists per game, and took on more of a scoring load whenever necessary, adding 16.0 points per game in the first half. In the All-Star Game he had a game-high 16 assists.
Booker carried most of the Suns’ offensive load in the first half with 24.9 points per game.
But the close to the first half was a roller-coaster of emotions for Booker, who first learned he was not named to the All-Star Game. He was added as an injury replacement for the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis then had to bow out because of a left knee sprain.
His absence from the All-Star Game was merely a precaution, though, and he could be ready to return Thursday.
“He’s good,” Suns general manager James Jones said, according to the Arizona Republic. “We’ll re-evaluate it. He could’ve played (in the All-Star Game) if he had to. If it’s the playoffs, he would’ve been playing, but it’s not. It’s an All-Star Game.
“We have a second-half focus that (Booker) deemed was more important than going out there a little banged up.”
While the All-Star break came at a good time for Booker to deal with his health, it also came with Phoenix in the midst of its best stretch in years. The Suns roared into the break on a four-game winning streak while taking seven of their last eight and 13 of their last 15.
The Suns and Trail Blazers are meeting for the second time this season and first since Phoenix rolled to a 132-100 victory at home on Feb. 22. Booker scored 34 in that one with Lillard scoring 24 for Portland in the Suns’ largest margin of victory this season.
Portland was in the midst of a four-game losing streak the last time the teams played, but turned that around to win three consecutive games before the break. Lillard scored 44 last Thursday as the Trail Blazers closed the first half with a 123-119 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
He then went out and scored 32 points as an All-Star reserve for Team LeBron, which defeated Team Durant 170-150.
Lillard’s 29.8 points per game are third best in the NBA as he has taken on a heavy load with CJ McCollum out since Jan. 16 because of a fractured left foot. Big men Jusuf Nurkic (wrist) and Zach Collins (ankle) also are out.
Enes Kanter has done well in Nurkic’s absence, scoring 22 points with 21 rebounds in the first-half finale last week.
“I think once we are all healthy, we’re going to be a very, very scary team,” Kanter said. “We are going to go out there and bruise people so I’m very excited about all those guys coming back. But the key is just staying healthy because we know what we are capable of.”
–Field Level Media
