Recap: Portland vs. Phoenix
Sports Network | April 23, 2010
Portland, OR (Sports Network) - Jason Richardson scored a career playoff-high 42 points, including eight three-pointers, as Phoenix blitzed Portland early and never let up in a 108-89 victory in Game 3 of its Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Amare Stoudemire added 20 points, and Steve Nash totaled 13 points and 10 assists for the Suns, who took a 2-1 series edge with Game 4 of the best-of- seven set scheduled for Saturday at the Rose Garden.
"They really focused on Amare down low and we got a lot of open shots and opportunites from the outside," Richardson said. "Luckily they went down."
LaMarcus Aldridge led the Trail Blazers with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Jerryd Bayless and Martell Webster each added 14 points off the bench. Portland never led and trailed by as many as 31 points in defeat.
"We are not controling our emotions and being able to play at this level without being calm out there," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "It's going to be a physical game, they're going to be aggressive. We talk about being calm, clear and consistent in what we want to do...that hasn't happened in these last two games."
Phoenix got off to a quick start, rattling off 11 consecutive points for a 19-6 lead. A Stoudemire tip-in, Nash driving layup and Stoudemire three-point play capped the stretch with just under five minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Suns also put together a quarter-closing 9-0 spurt, capped by Leandro Barbosa's layup with just under three seconds on the clock for a 34-16 edge. Richardson scored just four points fewer, 12, than the Blazers in the period, as Portland made only 30.4 percent of its shots and allowed 18 points in the paint.
The margin grew as the visitors continued to pour it on, moving out to a 49-24 lead on Goran Dragic's three-pointer. Portland finally reached 30 points on two Aldridge free throws with 4:29 left in the second quarter, while Phoenix reached that number in the final seconds of the first period. The edge reached its plateau at 66-35 late in the period on the second of two free throws by Nash.
The 29-point halftime deficit was cut to 81-60 at the conclusion of the third quarter thanks to 47.6 percent shooting and five offensive rebounds by the Trail Blazers. Bayless' long two-pointer cut the margin to 82-67 with 9:29 on the clock, and Rudy Fernandez actually drew the home team within 91-80 on a 25-foot trey with 5 1/2 minutes on the clock.
However, Portland never got any closer, and Phoenix ran the margin back up above 20 before settling for the final victory spread.
Portland made 44.2 percent of its shots, but shot only 57.1 percent from the charity stripe and saw the Suns bury 13 three-pointers...Dragic tallied 10 points in the victory...Fernandez chipped in with 12 points, and Andre Miller registered 11 points and nine assists in defeat...Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum re-injured his right shoulder in the first half of the contest. He first suffered the injury in Game 2.
