Post-Game: Blazers vs. Suns

The stat of the game: 20

No, that's not the number of turnovers that Steve Nash committed. It's the number of fans left in Portland who still think that the Jerryd Bayless trade was a bad idea.

The debuts of new guards Wesley Matthews and Armon Johnson were the polar opposite of Andre Miller's coming out party last year. Whereas before it was a storyline of uneasy coexistence with Brandon Roy, last night's opener was a perfect example of right sized pieces for right sized holes. Both Matthews and Johnson played the defense we expected of them, living in the jerseys of Phoenix's guards, and picked their spots on offense. One account compared Matthews' performance to a rave, which is odd, because I would never figure a large warehouse to be that strong of a defender or three-point shooter.

The Blazers and Suns started the season off like they ended the last, with a back and forth game that was very much in doubt throughout the first three quarters. The Blazers held a lead from the first quarter through the third, but it was never that large. Then, the third quarter run from the Suns got them the lead going into the fourth. Then Nicolas Batum happened. And Brandon Roy happened. A balanced (huhwha?) attack to end the game put the Suns away with ease and gave the Blazers their first win on the way to an 82-0 season.

Nicolas Batum put together a double double, absolutely making the Suns pay for putting Steve Nash on him, grabbing offensive rebounds by the sackful.

LaMarcus Aldridge was double-teamed every time he touched the ball, so he never really had a chance to get anything going. That being said, he never made any dumb mistakes when the double-team came, so that should be taken as net victory. He also ripped down nine rebounds.

Marcus Camby was the night's other double-double man, and he was a force again on the defensive end. Camby's wandering hands were everywhere, tipping passes and rebounds to create new possessions and keep possessions going.

Brandon Roy played like Brandon Roy. The 20-5-5 is just what he does.

Andre only played 27 minutes, and didn't stand out as much as the other guards, but still had a near double-double with 10 points and 9 assists.

Finally, Wes Matthews had a +22. Holy crap, what a steal.

Tonight, we have the Clippers, and a chance to see Blake Griffin's surreal ability to pull down rebounds first hand. Aside from Roy, our starters didn't log too much playing time last game, so we can hope that everyone will be fresh.