PHOENIX (AP) — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 27 points and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame one of their worst shooting performances of the season, rallying from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter for an 87-81 win Friday night over the Phoenix Suns.
Aldridge had 12 points in the fourth quarter and 10 in the last 3:26 of the game, and grabbed nine rebounds. Former Sun Robin Lopez added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Portland, which shot just 36 of 89.
Marcus Morris led the Suns with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and twin brother Markieff added 15 and nine, respectively, but the Suns lost ground in Oklahoma City for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Phoenix is 3 ½ games behind the Thunder.
Portland won despite an 8-for-18 free-throw performance, but Phoenix made just 36.8 percent of their shots overall and leading scorer Eric Bledsoe was 5 of 20.
Bledsoe gave the Suns a 62-56 lead, their largest of the game at the time, with 4:41 left in the third quarter after he dunked and drew a foul on the Blazers’ Nicolas Batum.
The Blazers went more than six minutes without a point in the third, with Aldridge missing three of four free throws in the quarter. The Suns took a 66-60 lead into the fourth, with Portland’s 13 third-quarter points a season low.
Damian Lillard’s first basket of the game, a 3-pointer early in the first quarter, gave him 1,500-plus points in his first three seasons, joining Sidney Wicks as the only Blazers player to have achieved the milestone. Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City was the last NBA player to do so.
Aldridge scored 12 of his points in the first quarter, hitting four consecutive shots during one stretch and 6 of 8 overall. The Blazers led by as many as 10 in the quarter and 11 in the second, but went cold after leading 41-30 at the 8-minute mark.
Portland made just eight of 27 second-quarter shots after hitting 13 of 22 in the first quarter, and the Suns used a 13-2 run to pull into a 43-43 tie on Gerald Green’s 3-pointer with 3:43 left.
Green energized the Suns with 12 points off the bench, screaming for the ball at one point early in the fourth quarter.
Bledsoe’s 15-foot pull-up with 1.4 seconds left tied it at 47 at halftime.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: C Chris Kaman returned after missing the past three games with a shoulder injury. … Portland recently ended a five-game losing streak, and coach Terry Stotts said one thing the Blazers took from the losses was the need to defend better. “The most important thing is that has to be a constant for us,” Stotts said.
Suns: G Brandon Knight had been working his way to a return, but was deemed unable to play Friday, missing his eighth straight game with a left ankle injury. … Bledsoe is the team’s leading scorer, but coach Jeff Hornacek also likes his ability to defend. “It’s a hard thing in this league to get over pick-and-rolls and he does a good job at that,” Hornacek said. “So we’re happy with the consistency that he has had all year.”
REMEMBERING HOT ROD
Hot Rod Hundley, for 35 years the voice of the New Orleans/Utah Jazz on radio, died in his Phoenix-area home Friday. Before joining the Jazz, he was a Suns broadcaster for four years.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Host Denver on Saturday.
Suns: Host Oklahoma City on Sunday.
