----- Jake Layman scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers defeat the Phoenix Suns 120-106 Thursday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
Jake Layman delivered another strong message on Thursday night that he deserves more minutes on the floor.
Layman scored 20 points and added eight rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers downed the Phoenix Suns 120-106 Thursday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Layman has now scored in double figures in six of his last seven games.
The Blazers led by just a point at 73-72 with 4:21 to play in the third quarter before pulling away. The Blazers responded with a 22-4 run to put the Suns away.
“The first half was frustrating,” Coach Terry Stotts said, “We missed a lot of shots at the rim early on. We gave up too many transition points in the first quarter. We played much better in the second half, obviously.”
Damian Lillard led Portland (30-20) with 24 points and CJ McCollum added 20 points. McCollum has now connected on 11 of his last 20 from three-point range. The Blazers connected on 12-of-26 from downtown on the night (46.2%).
Like Layman, Seth Curry came off the bench and reached double-figures. He played 30 minutes scoring 17 points connecting of 3-of-7 from three-point range.
Lillard became only the second player in NBA history to make a three-pointer in each of his team's first 50 games of a season. Dennis Scott did it first with the Orlando Magic during the 1995-96 season.
Injury update- Al-Farouq Aminu left the game with a left finger injury, but he did return to start the second half. No update was given on his status after the game.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers will return to Portland to meet the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Jake Layman once again outshines Maurice Harkless.