| 26 March 2009
Phoenix Suns (40-31) at Portland Trail Blazers (44-27) 7:30 p.m. PST TNT
The Phoenix Suns are fighting tooth and nail to get into the playoffs and have the priviledge of being swept by the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. They currently find themselves three games behind the Dallas Mavericks for the eighth seed, but they are also only four games behind Portland for the seven seed. Depending on how the season breaks they could land anywhere between sixth and ninth in the West.
The Suns are in the midst of a six game winnning streak (which becomes extremely unimpressive when you consider the five game losing streak that preceded it). The odds are stacked against them to keep that streak alive. They haven't beaten a Western Conference playoff team on the road since opening night against the Spurs.
This will be the final match-up between these two clubs with the Suns leading the season series 2-1. The Blazers won the last match-up behind Brandon Roy's career-high 52 points. It was the Blazers first win in 12 games against the Suns. The Blazers are coming off a tough loss to Philadelphia on Monday, and they're hoping Roy will bounce back from one of his worst games of the season (12 points on 5-18 shooting).
I'm hoping the Blazers get caught up in the running style of Phoenix. They would probably score about 140 points because their offense is so effective, but they'll eventually just walk it up on every other possession instead of letting the offense loose.
Key Match-Up: Steve Nash versus Steve Blake
There are some fun match-ups to watch tonight, but the belle of the ball is the point guard match-up. Nash has been a top-five point guard since he came over to the Suns, so it's no surprise that he would be a part of this section. The bigger surprise is that Steve Blake has played just has well as, if not better than Nash head-to-head this season. He is averaging 18.3 points, 6 assists, 3.7 three-pointers made on 50% from the field and 55% from three per game against the Suns. Nash's defense can't make just about anyone look better, but those numbers are pretty ridiculous especially compared to Nash's 17 points, 8.3 assists and 1.7 threes on 55% from the field and 71% (WOW!) from three. Lovers of the three and white point guards will love tonight's game.
Prediction: Portland takes this one and make the Suns' chances of making the playoffs that much lower.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
