Trail Blazers vs. Suns

                                                                                         

Portland -4 1/2 vs. Phoenix

The fans in Portland may hold current Suns' coach Terry Porter in high esteem, but he will be vilified if his team can continue its winning ways by beating the hometown hero Trail Blazers Thursday night.

Porter helped the Blazers to two NBA finals appearances in his 10 seasons in the Rose Garden. He now will step into those surroundings as the suddenly surging Suns (15-10) look for their third straight win and fifth win in six games. It was a special few nights for Porter as Monday night his Suns spoiled the return of Mike D'Antoni by beating the visiting New York Knicks 111-103 in Phoenix. Then Tuesday he was honored in the Rose Garden as Portland retired his number 30 while the fans gave him a standing ovation.

While that is a great honor, Porter may be more proud of his team's recent play. Steve Nash scored 21 points as the Suns topped 110 points for the fourth straight games. This is quite an offensive turnaround for a team who averaged 99.9 points per contest through the first 20 games of the season in the transition from D'Antonio's high flying offense to Porter's more balanced attack. The win over the Knicks was all the more impressive considering Shaquille O'Neal was out of the lineup for the second straight game due to a death in his family. O'Neal is expected back for Portland.

Perhaps the legend of Porter helped the Blazers (16-10) in their destruction of Sacramento 109-77 on the night in which the former player was honored. Brandon Roy netted 29 and followed up his career-best game of 38 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Joel Przybilla grabbed 14 rebounds in the game and Portland led in that category 59-38. That is Portland's highest board total since a December 2004 contest against Boston.

The Portland Trail Blazers will look to beat the Phoenix Suns for the first time in 10 games Thursday night.

InSpin.com

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