Blazers vs. Suns Round Two Preview


The Portland Trail Blazers are facing off against the Phoenix Suns once again following a 127-108 win on Saturday night. The Blazers are on a hot streak right now as winners of seven of their last eight games and are looking to defend home court once again.

On the other side, the Suns are also playing good basketball recently. Even with a blowout loss to Portland two nights ago, Phoenix are winners of nine of their last 13 contests and find themselves in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt.

Portland Trail Blazers (20-29) vs. Phoenix Suns (25-23) – Mon. Feb. 3 – 7pm Pacific

How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network

How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; NBA TV elsewhere (also available on streaming via NBA TV on League Pass)

Trail Blazers injuries: Robert Williams III, Matisse Thybulle (out).

Suns injuries: NONE.

SBN Affiliate: Bright Side of the Sun

The Blazers are getting hot right before the NBA Trade Deadline on Thursday, February 6, putting into question what the direction of the team is this season. If Portland stands pat at the deadline, it implies a push for a play-in spot might be what the team is looking at. However, many Blazers have popped up in trade rumors recently, also implying that the team might trade some of their veterans and fade back into the bottom of the standings.

The Suns, however, have no doubts about their position as buyers this deadline. They are firmly in a win-now mode and might be looking to add some extra talent around Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. There is a chance that this is one of the last games these teams play before major lineup changes around the deadline.

Reader Questions

From raoulduke:

Does Kevin Durant look old, like really old? He never really seemed like a threat on Saturday. Yes, he can still shoot but had a rough time getting to his spots and staying in control.

Kevin Durant is definitely not the scorer he once was now that he’s 36. However, he still shot a pretty efficient 50% from the floor on Saturday. He wasn’t able to take over the game like we know he can, and he only got to the free throw line three times leading to a 22-point performance. However, he also faced off against Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara all night. The pair are basically the perfect archetype to slow down a player in Durant’s mold. Two long and aggressive defenders that excel at disrupting opposing stars.

Whether Durant has an equally quiet game tonight remains to be seen, but Camara and Avdija will certainly try their best to make that happen.

From Devyn:

Assuming no trades happen at the deadline, do you see a path where Robert Williams replaces Donovan Clingan as DA’s primary backup big moving into the final 30 game stretch of the season? The organization has chosen not to do that so far this season but if the Blazers end up competing for a play-in spot that changes the calculus a little bit.

I doubt it. I could see the Blazers running more lineups that see two of Ayton, Clingan and Williams on the floor, but not Clingan mostly falling out of the lineup. Portland already is bringing three top-seven picks in the last three draft off the bench with their current lineup, and having a rookie who’s been very good in his minutes fall out of the lineup is not a business that a rebuilding team should be in.

From BlazerfromSNsince08:

One question ? Can we keep this balance and try to win as much as possible ? I dont care about the pick, regardless of the position, if we scout well, we can find a good player in the draft.

Winning early as a young team has proven to be a very good sign recently. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic have all proven to be ahead of schedule at some point in the last few seasons for example. However, the Blazers might not have a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alperen Sengun or Paolo Banchero on their team right now. They might not even have a Jalen Williams or Franz Wagner. If that player can develop from within, then making a late season push could be great for Portland’s future. If not, then they might find themselves stuck in a no-man’s-land of being too good for a high draft pick, but not good enough to make any noise in the playoffs.

Being bad is the one true way to make sure you have a shot at a top talent. The higher in the draft a team picks, the higher the chance of that player being a difference maker historically. It all comes down to internal development. Maybe this answer looks dumb two years in the future as Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe lead Portland to a top-three seed, or maybe the Blazers find themselves as the ninth seed for the third straight year without a true all-star level talent.

From ClingFree:

Now that the Mavericks are giving away good players for pennies, which Mav should the Trailblazers sign up for?

Judging by the Luka package, Portland should be able to grab someone like Derrick Lively for a pair of second round picks and salary filler. Who knows, if the Blazers are willing to include Robert Williams it could land them Kyrie and a second rounder if you can sell Dallas on the defensive upgrade.

About the Opponent:

Bright Side of the Suns’ Matthew Lissy talked about Phoenix’s prospects with other Western Conference teams adding star talent after the Luka Doncic and De’Aaron Fox trades.

That’s now two star players on teams above and below the Suns in the standings as of Sunday night — the Lakers in the 5th seed and the Spurs in the 12th — with the Spurs having a legit chance of jumping the Suns in the standings.

Now, with the Mavericks adding Davis to their lineup — where he can finally play the power forward position he’s always preferred — next to Daniel Gafford, they’re still a scary team.

That is now three teams not including the Oklahoma City Thunder I would fear facing in the first round of the playoffs.



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