At the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, the Trail Blazers stepped on the gas pedal in the final quarter and zoomed ahead of the Suns, winning tonight's game by a final score of 108-85. 

The Portland Trail Blazers only had a one point lead going into the fourth, but then they turned on the jets by scoring the first six points of the quarter. It seemed like, in that last quarter, for every basket the Suns made, Portland answered with two or three baskets of their own. Batum scored five points in a row for the home team, pushing the lead to eleven as they never looked back after that.

After the third quarter ended, it looked like Phoenix could come away with a well-earned victory, but they let in forty points in the fourth quarter, blowing this contest wide open. There were positives for sure, as they battled toe-to-toe all the way up until the end with the home team. It looked like Markieff Morris got easy shot after easy shot in and around the basket as he made eight of his 19 shots, but finished with minus-16 for the night. As a team, the Suns did well moving the ball around the court, making sure everyone got touches as they finished with 20 team assists, as Goran Dragic came away with five of those, leading the team.

Nicolas Batum had a very impressive fourth quarter and was the spark plug in Portland's offensive onslaught in the final frame, finishing the night with a game-high 20 points, going 6 of 13 from the field and sinking all six of his shots from the charity stripe. The contribution from all of the players, however, was extremely impressive. Every starter scored in double digits with LaMarcus Aldridge coming right behind Batum, ending the night with one point less. Where Aldridge thrived tonight was around the rim, as he collected a game-high 13 rebounds. The Blazers combined for an astonishing 57 total rebounds. 

The Phoenix Suns will return home tonight to take on the Utah Jazz Friday evening. Meanwhile, Portland will hit the road to play the Dallas Mavericks in two days’ time.

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