5 takeaways from Phoenix Suns' lopsided loss at Portland Trail Blazers in second of back-to-back

PORTLAND — Monty Williams said before Saturday's game the Suns were looking to get another road win to go 2-0 in a road back-to-back against playoff teams from a season ago.

They didn't finish the job.

Unable to slow down CJ McCollum, Damian Lillard and Norman Powell, Phoenix fell, 134-105, before 18,558 fans at Moda Center as the Suns trailed by as many as 37 points.

McCollum, Lillard and Powell combined for 63 points with 43 coming in the first half in fueling a 67-47 halftime lead.

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The Suns responded to falling behind by 25 with a 10-0 run, but Portland (1-1) answered with a 20-11 run to go up 24 as McCollum scored 15 of his game-high 28 in the third. 

Lillard added 19, Powell netted 16, all coming in the first half, while Devin Booker paced Phoenix with 21.

Here are five takeaways from the lopsided loss Phoenix (1-2) that followed an impressive win over the Los Angeles Lakers. 

1. Williams and Booker talked about lack of communication on defense. 

As Booker put it, they're not "on a string" defensively right now.

This come after having one of their best defensive efforts against the Lakers.

So what was the difference?

The Lakers were cold in shooting 39.5% from the field.

The Blazers were the complete opposite in shooting 54.3%, going 21-of-50 from 3, but they only committed nine turnovers that led to 11 Phoenix points.

So the Suns not only failed to guard the ball at Portland, they didn't generate much offense from their defense. 

Maybe playing three games in four days wore on the Suns legs a little bit, and yes, McCollum and Lillard hit tough shots as did Powell and Anfernee Simons, who finished with 18 off the bench, but Phoenix wasn't playing with that customary force on defense. 

 2. The Suns are urging Mikal Bridges to be more aggressive. It paid off against the Lakers as he scored 21 on 8-of-11 shooting.

He put up nine shots Saturday, made five with four on 3s on five attempts from deep, but not sure if taking 15 shots is in him right now.

Williams didn't want to put an attempt goal on Bridges, but said 12 FGAs is an ideal number for him playing with Booker and Chris Paul.

With that being said, the Suns still need Paul to be aggressive.

Taking five shots is not enough. Delivering 11 assists works, but with Cameron Payne out with the right hamstring strain, the Suns needed Paul to go for his more.

Booker went 9-of-19 for a team-high 21 points, but being aggressive has never been his problem. On a night when Paul only takes five shots and Deandre Ayton hoists up just six, this is the night Bridges could've taken 20 shots.

Then again, probably wouldn't have matter with the way Portland had it going.

3. Chauncey Billups said before the game there wasn't going to be any carryover from Phoenix' s 119-74 destruction of Portland to close out preseason play.

The first-year head coach said the Blazers were just going to "keep chipping" in terms of figuring things out as a team.

When the game started, Portland played like they had a chip on its shoulder from that loss.

Scoring at will, the Blazers had 106 points going into the fourth quarter.

So Billups got his first win as an NBA head coach.

It won't be his last, but getting a victory like this over a team that just crushed his Blazers, be it was the preseason, is a good sign for Billups. 

4. Getting back to Ayton, this one particular play is alarming.

They ran a series of actions that led to Ayton getting deep post position with Jusuf Nurkic behind him.

Ayton could have turned into him, drawed the foul and put up a jump hook, or better yet, taken a quick dribble and go around him for the power dunk.

He did neither against the less athletic and slower Nurkic.

Ayton instead shot a fadeaway jumper and missed.

Now it's just one play, but it personifies what he could do inside to impact the game. 

When he's moving towards the basket, it leads to him already in position for offensive rebounds. Playing like that would lead him to having more than just three rebounds in 26 minutes.

Not good. Not good at all.

JaVale McGee came off the bench to score more points with 12 and grab one more rebound in 11 minutes. He shot 6-of-9 from the field.

Ayton doesn't have to look any further than that to know he's not being the difference maker he's capable of being. 

5. The Suns have three days in between games, which may be enough time to get Payne back, who missed Saturday's game with a right hamstring strain.

Elfrid Payton finished with 14 points, added six assists, but turned the ball over three times. Since Payton's not a deep shooter, Williams talked about setting screens differently than for say Payne, but he was solid.

However, the bigger point in all of this is the Suns have three days to not only get Payne right, but Williams to get his team back on track.

Williams took responsibility for the loss, saying he didn't have him team focused.

As a coach, Williams said he just can't shelf the loss, but McGee said this loss isn't on the coaches as players usually take responsibility for defeats.

The Suns will have time to regroup, but with the impending ESPN story on team owner Robert Sarver and accusations of racism, sexism and sexual harassment coming, the coaches and players can't help but wonder what the article will reveal.

That will be a much harder thing to dismiss moving forward for a team that prides itself on staying together and unified.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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