PHOENIX — Reserves Channing Frye and Jared Dudley broke out of their series-long shooting slumps with 20 and 19 points, respectively, and the Phoenix Suns overcame an early 14-point deficit to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 107-88 on Monday night and take a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Phoenix can advance to the second round by beating the Blazers in Portland on Thursday night.
Frye, who spent the previous two seasons on the Portland bench, made 3-of-5 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds. Dudley was 5 of 9 on 3s. The Suns' two best 3-point shooters in the regular season, Frye and Dudley had been a combined 14 of 48 (29 percent) on 3s in the first four games of the series.
Amare Stoudemire scored 19, and Steve Nash had 14 points and 10 assists for Phoenix.
Andre Miller scored 21, while LaMarcus Aldridge and Jerryd Bayless had 17 apiece for the Trail Blazers.
Phoenix made 27-of-29 free throws to the Trail Blazers' 17 of 24.
Portland All-Star Brandon Roy, in his second game back after undergoing arthoscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus just 10 days ago, drew three fouls in an ineffective 6 1/2 minutes in the first half. He finished with five points on 2-of-7 shooting in 19 minutes.
It's either been a Phoenix blowout or a Suns loss in this series. The Suns' three victories have been by 29, 19 and 19 points.
Phoenix was down by 23-9 eight minutes into the game but rallied to tie it before the first quarter was over and took the lead for good in the second period.
Frye's 6-foot hook shot put Phoenix ahead 38-36 and the Blazers never caught up. An 8-2 spurt over the final 2:17 gave Phoenix a 54-47 lead at the half. Frye and Dudley each had a 3-pointer in the run.
The closest the Trail Blazers got in the third quarter was 67-59 after Miller made a free throw with 4:14 to go.
Nash had a quiet scoring night before erupting with nine as Phoenix outscored Portland 17-7 the rest of the third quarter. His two free throws, followed by a 3-pointer, put the Suns up 80-65.
Dudley knocked the ball loose for a turnover that led to Jason Richardson's fast-break dunk that made it 82-65. After Roy's free throw, Dudley scored inside to put Phoenix ahead 84-66 after three – and this one was over.
Portland outshot the Suns 54 percent to 48 percent in the first half yet still trailed by 10. That's because Phoenix dominated every other facet of the game, making 14-of-15 free throws to the Blazers' 4 of 6 and outrebounding Portland 22-14 – 10-3 on the offensive boards. The Suns had five offensive rebounds in the second quarter to none for the Trail Blazers.
Phoenix led by as many as 27 in the final quarter. The Suns dominated points in the paint 40-28 and had a 17-6 advantage in fast-break points. Phoenix, the NBA's highest-scoring team in the regular season, had just four fast-break points in each of its two losses in the series.
The Suns outrebounded the bigger Trail Blazers 41-29.
Notes
Suns C Robin Lopez, out with a back injury, was re-evaluated by a specialist and has been cleared for increased basketball activity. However, there is no word on when he might return to play. … The winner of Game 5 after a 2-2 tie has gone on to win the series 83 percent of the time. … If there is a Game 7, it will be Saturday in Phoenix. … The Suns' reserves outscored their Portland counterparts 55-23. … Take away Frye and Dudley, and Phoenix made 2-of-13 3s. … Portland made its first seven shots.