Post-Game: Blazers at Suns, Game 1

 If only the Suns had you on the floor, Thunder Dan

My favorite moment from last night's game perfectly capped the journey that many Blazer fans have taken with Andre Miller this season. Of course, early on, he was named the scapegoat for everything that went wrong, because he couldn't fit in. Since the new year, he's become our most valuable player, and yes, I am including Brandon Roy (Honestly, which team would be worse - Roy-less Blazers or Miller-less Blazers?). Miller treated us to his best performance since the Dallas game, even duplicating its best moments. Of course, he weaved through traffic, getting layups, but there's a point during every game that Andre Miller goes off when it's heat check time. That's when he gets the ball on the right side on the top of the arc, his defender looks up at him and backs off, and Andre calmly shot-puts it in. The first twenty games of the season, everyone groaned at the shot. Last night, we all knew it was going in.

Yes, last night's game was all you could have wanted. Winners and losers aside, the competition was fierce, and the refs managed to call a great game, giving no clear advantage to either side when bad calls were made. That damn cliche of "I don't even care who wins" popped in my mind after the end of the third quarter, which led me to cool down on the beer a little bit. The Blazers won because they duplicated their strategy from the final meeting between these two teams during the regular season. They dragged the Suns down to their level, and muddied up the game. Except this time, the Blazers made their shots. While this was game was a perfectly conceived team effort, there's credit to be given out everywhere.

What We Can Sustain

Andre Miller abused everybody that was on him last night. He wasn't doing it through gaining space for mid-to-long range jumpers. He was simply blowing past the Suns. This is probably giving Alvin Gentry the shakes. As it appears right now, the Suns don't have an answer for him.

Nicolas Batum atoned for last season's pants-crapping against the Rockets. While he started off hot in the first half and cooled in the second, he hit the game's biggest shot with the three pointer in front of the Suns bench in the fourth, and had his best dunk of the season as he drove baseline and put it home (I want to see him dunk from the foul line). Of course, his defense was spectacular as usual.

Mar-cus Cam-by gave cause for clapping and chanting again last night as he collected 17 rebounds. No one can hang with Mar-cus as a rebounder on the Suns. The only way we can control tempo like we did is if Cam-by puts together dominant rebounding performances like this. Sure, the Suns outrebounded the Blazers, but they forfeited their entire game plan to do so. And yes, that missed dunk is the kind of play you laugh about afterward when you win, and haunts your dreams when you lose.

Juwan Howard came in for only 13 minutes, and put together a number of hustle plays and didn't take too much from the table. Would we rather have Dante in? Of course, but Juwan justified his minutes last night. He shouldn't top 13 minutes in a game the rest of the series. If he does, we lost.

What We Shouldn't Count On

Jerryd Bayless scored 18 points. That probably won't happen again. It was a big-time performance in his home town, and he desperately needed it. We desperately need it to happen three more times this series. It might not happen. Just savor it now, and forget it for Game 2, Jerryd.

The Suns shot only 41.8%.

What Can Be Improved

LaMarcus Aldridge tied for the lowest number of rebounds on the team, except he did it in 40 minutes of play. That has to change. Sure, he was dragged out by defending guys like Frye, but he has to crash the boards afterward. Also, he needs to focus on his post game during the off-day because the Suns are giving him the one-on-one down low. He should be drinking Channing's milkshake.

Rudy shot terribly, but he did do a great job running Steve Nash ragged with off-the-ball movement. This is one of those situations where it wasn't his night, but Rudy made contributions to help with the win.

Aside from a couple of monster blocks in the fourth, Marty was a bit invisible during the game. Yes, his defense was solid, but he also was throwing up misses. If he, along with Rudy, improves to a normal level of offense, this game is a blowout. Hilariously, he also tied for the worst +/- of any player last night with Amar'e Stoudemire for a -16.

Going Forward

The Blazers snuck out of that game with a win, and now they know they can do it again and again throughout the playoffs. They did it due to the gameplanning and strategy of Nate McMillan and the coaching staff, completely taking the Suns out of their offense, and taking the crowd out of the game. Don't expect that to happen so easily next time. During the first few minutes, the pace of the game was decided, which brought it into a winnable range for the Blazers. If the Blazers keep the Suns out of their game like they did tonight, we can look forward to seeing Brandon Roy again this season.

Image courtesy of Obsessed with Sports.