The Portland Trail Blazers (10 - 14) defeated the Phoenix Suns (10 - 14) on Friday night by a score of 106 - 96, in Phoenix. It was a close game the whole way but a strong fourth quarter by Portland in which the Blazers out - scored the Suns 28 - 14 was the difference maker. Both teams have been led their back courts this season and due to an unusually poor shooting performance from Brandon Knight, the Blazers tandem easily had the advantage in this match - up. Phoenix has been struggling as of late, although they won their last two games previous to this one, they are still 3 - 7 in their last 10. This was a tough loss for the Suns especially as it led to Portland now being tied with them in the standings. Brandon Knight had an anomalous game, shooting an unexplainable 0 - 12 from the field but recorded 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals, in 32 minutes. Eric Bledsoe was on track with 31 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Jon Leuer chipped in 13 points on 6 - 8 shooting and eight rebounds in 27 minutes. Tyson Chandler remained out with a hamstring strain. The Trail Blazers were led by the scorching C.J. McCollum, who finished with 26 points on 10 - 15 shooting, along with four assists and two rebounds. Damian Lillard shot only 8 - 21 but one of those was a three - pointer late in the game for the dagger. He finished with 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds, in 35 minutes. Al-Farouq Aminu recorded a solid double - double consisting of 13 points and 13 rebounds, along with three steals, one assist and one block, in 30 minutes. Next up for Portland is the second night of a back - to - back as they return home to host New York Knicks on Saturday. Phoenix will have a day off before hosting the Timberwolves on Sunday.
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 "TeamStat(G,'Trail Blazers') has 14 Losses ,has 106 Total points ,has 28 Points in 4th quarter ,has 10 Wins ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Al-Farouq Aminu') has 1 Assists ,has 1 Blocks ,has 30 3-pointers made ,has 13 Free throws made ,has 13 Minutes played ,has 3 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'CJ McCollum') has 4 Assists ,has 26 Blocks ,has 2 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Damian Lillard') has 7 Assists ,has 1 Blocks ,has 1 3-pointers made ,has 35 Free throws made ,has 18 Minutes played ,has 5 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Jon Leuer') has 13 Assists ,has 8 Blocks ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Brandon Knight') has 10 Assists ,has 5 Blocks ,has 2 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Eric Bledsoe') has 5 Assists ,has 31 Blocks ,has 4 3-pointers made ,has 2 Free throws made ."]