The Phoenix Suns have played teams from Los Angeles in four of their first five games.
Seeing the Lakers and Clippers twice apiece hasn’t stopped the Suns from winning four of the five. Now they’ll take a swipe at beating the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer said he can’t recall ever seeing an opening slate like this during his NBA career, which spans 28 seasons as either a head coach (currently his 11th) or an assistant (17).
“It’s been a very strange schedule,” said Budenholzer, who is in his first season with the Suns. “It’s wild. It’s hard to beat teams when it’s close in the calendar, like within a week.”
The Suns went 2-0 against the Clippers and split with the Lakers. Their other contest was a home win over the Dallas Mavericks.
In Thursday’s 125-119 road victory over the Clippers, Devin Booker scored a season-high 40 points. He is averaging 36.5 points over the last two games.
Another hefty contribution came from Royce O’Neale off the bench. He scored a career-best 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
It was surprising to many observers, including Budenholzer, that the output was the best ever for O’Neale, who is beginning his eighth NBA campaign.
“For that to be his career-high (Thursday) night, I agree, a little bit of a surprise,” Budenholzer said. “… But watching him through his career, coaches trust him, teammates trust him. He makes winning plays, and I think that’s why we went out and got him last year. He’s been great.”
Bradley Beal (elbow) is listed as questionable for the Suns on Saturday. He has played in just three of the first five games. Budenholzer said Beal took some shots during Friday’s light workout.
The Trail Blazers have lost four of six games this season as they begin a four-game trip.
Portland was routed 137-114 at home by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. It was the club’s 13th straight setback against the Thunder.
Portland trailed by 17 in the first quarter but rallied to tie the score at 68 at the break. However, the Trail Blazers were outscored 38-17 in the third quarter when they committed 12 turnovers that led to 19 Oklahoma City points.
“That was pretty crazy what happened in the third,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. “We fought our butts off to get it back in the second quarter.
“I thought we started the third quarter pretty good. It was a two-point game, and from that point on we had 12 turnovers. Just deflating plays. When you’re playing big-time teams like that, you can’t give them that many opportunities.”
Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points, and Deandre Ayton and Rayan Rupert added 14 points apiece. Ayton had only five rebounds while failing to record a double-double for the first time this season.
Anfernee Simons was just 1-of-8 shooting while scoring nine points. He landed on his elbow at one point, but Billups said he doesn’t think it’s a serious issue.
Second-year forward Toumani Camara scored a season-high 13 points and has reached double digits four times this season. He made three 3-pointers and is shooting 52.6 percent (10 of 19) from behind the arc in the early going.
As a rookie, he shot just 33.7 percent from behind the arc.
“Just learning my role and a lot of work,” Camara said after Friday’s game. “… All summer, it was a big emphasis for me to knock down shots more consistently, and I think that’s where I’ve been able to improve.”
Phoenix took three of four games from the Trail Blazers last season.
