PORTLAND -- Despite the differences in their respective records, the first quarter of Saturday’s game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns had all the trappings of an dogfight between two Western Conference teams.
Then the second quarter happened.
After showing little energy and not much interest in the first 12 minutes, the Trail Blazers outscored the Suns by 18 points in the second quarter, thank in large part to a boost of energy from their bench, on the way to a 127-120 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 19,851 Saturday night at the Moda Center.