Game 23: Phoenix Suns (11-11) at Trailblazers (11-11)

[YFZblu]

VS.





When: 7:00pm AZ time (FSAZ HD for those of us in Phoenix)
Where: Phoenix, AZ





Good Guys:

Steve Nash
Jason Richardson
Grant Hill
Channing Frye
Earl Barron

Reserves: Goran Dragic/Hedo Turkoglu/Jared Dudley/Hakim Warrick/Josh Childress











Bad Guys:

Andre Miller
Brandon Roy
Wesley Matthews
LaMarcus Aldridge
Marcus Camby

Reserves: Nicolas Batum/Rudy Fernandez/Joel Pryzbilla/Armon Johnson









Random Suns Hotties:







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Nerdy Stuff:



Portland Offense:

PPG: 95.19 (23rd)
FG%: 43.2% (28th)
3-Point FG%: 33.5 (24th)
Point Differential: -.43 (16th)

Portland Defense:

Opponent's PPG: 95.62 (7th)
Opponent's FG%: 47.1 (24th)
Opponent's 3-Point FG%: 35.9 (16th)
Rebound Differential: +.76 (14th)



Random:

Portland's Road Record: 5 - 7
Suns Home Record: 6 - 4
Porland's record when scoring 100+ points in a game: 6 - 2 (.75%)
Portland's record when ALLOWING 100 points in a game: 0 - 6 (0%)

Lucky break: Portland just played Orlando last night (won), so those old knees from Oregon should be primed for the taking tonight!



Offensive Keys to the Game: Run! The Blazers don't allow many points, but that has much to do with their pace, which ranks dead last in the NBA. The Blazers have allowed opponents to shoot 47% from the field this year, and IMO the Suns need to keep Portland's length at bay by running and running and running and running and running...You get the picture. IMO, this team does not have the personnel to play Nate McMillan ball and win tonight.

Defensive Key to the Game: Try not to suck Seriously though, the Blazers rank in the bottom 23 regarding the 'big 3' offensive statistics (PPG, FG%, 3-point, FG%)---If the Suns force the tempo like I know they can, Portland's efficiency should drop off even further.

Prediction: Suns MUST score 100 to win this game. First team to 100 wins!



Go Suns!

[BurningHeart]

We're at home this time.

[YFZblu]

We're at home this time.

YES YES I know, I realized that right after creating the thread.

"IT'S OK", I said to myself. "NOBODY WILL BE UP AT 6AM CHECKING MY GAME THREAD I'LL JUST CHANGE IT RIGHT NOW"

Fixed! Thanks

Sorry for being a little late with this, peeps.

[Miklo]

Nice thread, you got the numbers in there like you said you would BUT it's also lookin' good which you said you might not be able to do

[ATTL]

Seems like we just played them

[swe_suns]

We already lost the season series to memphis, let's prevent that from happening against the blazers aswell...

[YFZblu]

Seems like we just played them

Creepiest avatar ever.

[YFZblu]

Nice thread, you got the numbers in there like you said you would BUT it's also lookin' good which you said you might not be able to do

Suns hotties make every thread look good

[Jdiddy701]

We're going to blow them out tonight.

[sunfire0112]

Must-win game if we're going to be competing with Portland to make the playoffs.

[YFZblu]

Must-win game if we're going to be competing with Portland to make the playoffs.

Yep--Wins like this put 1 full game of separation between our records. IMO, this is where having a veteran team comes in handy, because they know how to win, and understand we need this one.

[sunfire0112]

Must-win game if we're going to be competing with Portland to make the playoffs.

Yep--Wins like this put 1 full game of separation between our records. IMO, this is where having a veteran team comes in handy, because they know how to win, and understand we need this one.

That tie-breaker might also be an important factor later on in the season. (We're already 0-2 against them).

[swe_suns]

Must-win game if we're going to be competing with Portland to make the playoffs.

Yep--Wins like this put 1 full game of separation between our records. IMO, this is where having a veteran team comes in handy, because they know how to win, and understand we need this one.

Yet the starters came out flat big time against Memphis which was a tie-breaker...

Anyway I do have a good feeling about this game and hopefully we are starting to develop that bench we had post ASB last season.

[YFZblu]

Must-win game if we're going to be competing with Portland to make the playoffs.

Yep--Wins like this put 1 full game of separation between our records. IMO, this is where having a veteran team comes in handy, because they know how to win, and understand we need this one.

Yet the starters came out flat big time against Memphis which was a tie-breaker...

Anyway I do have a good feeling about this game and hopefully we are starting to develop that bench we had post ASB last season.

Which was expected, IMO. I won't say older players are BAD on the 2nd night of back-to-backs, because that's way too much of a blanket statment. However, I do think older players can be unpredictable on the 2nd half of a back-to-back, even elite players like Steve Nash.

[sunfire0112]

Yet the starters came out flat big time against Memphis which was a tie-breaker...

Anyway I do have a good feeling about this game and hopefully we are starting to develop that bench we had post ASB last season.

Here's to hoping that our bench starts to gel so they can bail out or starters (if need be) like last year.

[Calvin Klein]

kinda tired of playing Portland and Memphis all the time I hope we can win this time though.

[harshey1388]

CUT. THEIR. HEADS. OFF.


i wanna come back from my final exam and have great news that we won!

LETS GO SUNS!

[pidi]

let´s go phx...

[JohnVancouver]

Seems like we just played them

Creepiest avatar ever.

pan's labyrinth?

[ATTL]

Nah. Love Pan's labyrinth but this is the poughkeepsie tapes or however it's spelled. Not really that scary, kinda cheesie from what i remember. Still good clip to scare my fellow suns fans.

Suns 147
Blazers 85