Game Two Preview: Blazers vs. Suns

On Sunday, Steve Nash played outstanding against Portland, but Andre Miller played better. Not only that, but Jerryd Bayless used his strength and athleticism to earn baskets in the lane and get to the free throw line. The Blazer guards were truly game changers.

Despite being wrong about this matchup on Sunday, I have to recycle the same logic and prediction for this game. Nash had a great game on Sunday, his teammates just missed a lot of open looks and missed opportunities to capitalize.

Nash is good for 20 and 10 while I'm not so confident about Miller or Bayless matching their numbers from Sunday. Although, someone has to right? Still, Dragic will be better and Nash is so consistently good I have to give him the edge.

The one real weak spot in the game for Portland on Sunday was at shooting guard. Rudy missed most of his open looks and Martell seemed lost up until those two huge blocks, of course.

Not only that, but Leandro Barbosa was deadly in the first half, hitting open threes in the half court set, something he almost never does. Richardson struggled with his shot but still managed 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Even if Rudy and Martell play better tonight, I'm afraid Jason Richardson will be looking for big numbers for the Suns. He once was a dynamic scorer and with Rudy defending him, he should feel confident enough to get his shot at any time. We desperately need Rudy to hit his open threes tonight, and same with Martell. If those guys lay another egg this could be a rough game.

One of the other bright spots in the Game One victory for Portland had to be the play of Nicolas Batum. Not only that, it was one of my few correct predictions, but that's beside the point. Batum was so smooth in this game. When Portland needed threes, he hit three of them, and when they needed an aggressive finish or a big finish on the fast break, he was there. Add to that the very poor outings from Grant Hill and Jared Dudley, and the Blazers dominated the small forward position.

Tonight, Hill and Dudley are bound to shoot better. They combined to shoot 3-for-18 from the field while in the regular season they both shot around 47 percent from the field. Batum is going to have to bring that "A" game once again, and since I am on the Nico bandwagon, I think he can do it. Another solid game here in Phoenix.

Amar'e Stoudemire was really held in check on Sunday, something Portland had to do to be successful. Stoudemire was baffled by the Blazer defense: he was forcing jumpers, turning the ball over, and just not being the dominant guy he's been all year.

Tonight, Phoenix is going to re-commit to Amar'e. I'm thinking he'll be pretty upset about the loss and the entire game plan will revolve around Nash finding Amar'e and Amar'e crashing the boards for putbacks. I think we can expect a similar game from Aldridge but Stoudemire has to be better. Law of averages, right?

By far the biggest advantage Portland has in this series is the center position. On Sunday Marcus Camby was brilliant, complementing all of his teammates with rebounding, blocked shots, and serious defense. Channing Frye also played okay, hitting a few key threes in the first half.

Tonight, Camby will have to be the same monster defender. He'll be switching and helping on Amare Stoudemire and looking to shut him down again. Camby is good for another 15-plus rebounds and he'll definitely be the best center on the floor.

I can't fathom the Suns losing two games at home. As much as I think we can win this game, it would blow my mind to steal two in Phoenix. I gotta go with the Suns tonight.

Overall Winner: