by David Ball, KATU Staff

Tue, February 4th 2025 at 10:51 PM

Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton (2) and forward Toumani Camara, right, celebrate following their team’s win over the Phoenix Suns following an NBA basketball game Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — The Portland Trail Blazers hit the glass hard in overtime, pulling down some key late rebounds to hold off Phoenix 121-119 on Monday night at Moda Center.

Deandre Ayton put Portland in front 113-111 on a short jumper in the lane with 2:22 to play, and the Blazers would do the rest of their damage from the free-throw line. Portland hit 8-for-10 (80%) down the stretch with Ayton knocking down five in a row to keep Portland a step ahead.

The Suns’ Devin Booker was fouled attempting a corner 3 with 4.1 seconds to play. Booker, who is shooting 89% on free throws for the season, made his first two shots, but missed the third that would have tied the game.

Ayton grabbed the miss and added a free throw at the other end. Jerami Grant secured the victory with an offensive rebound that allowed the final seconds to tick off the clock.

The teams traded the lead six times down the stretch in regulation before Phoenix forced overtime at 107-107 after Royce O’Neale hit a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left.

“We’ve been on this streak of playing well, of playing together,” Ayton said. “It felt like a playoff game tonight. I like how we were together down the stretch – it was real basketball tonight.”

Ayton led the Blazers with 25 points and 20 rebounds, while Deni Avdija scored 20 points on 8 of 12 (66.7%) shooting.

Booker finished with a game-high 34 points.

Portland led by as many as 14 points in the opening minutes of the game. The Blazers also finished with a nine-point advantage on the fastbreak.

Portland (21-29) sits 4.5 games behind the Suns in the chase for the final play-in spot, as the season nears the All-Star break.

The Blazers host Indiana at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Moda Center.