Blazers vs. Suns

In just over two hours, Portland and Phoenix will kick off their respective seasons.  Both teams in this match-up have varied goals.  Portland has high hopes of taking the next step into the playoff picture, while Phoenix is in position to take a step back, fading further from the playoff picture to help add a top talent from the 2014 draft.  That said, this Suns squad has young players with a desire to prove themselves, led by their potential leading scorer Eric Bledsoe.

Here are the projected starters for Portland tonight:
1 Lillard
2 Matthews
3 Batum
4 Aldridge
5 Lopez

No surprises here.  Look for Stotts to play around 10-11 guys, with Leonard as the wild card for a few minutes out of the backup rotation.  Mo Williams likely plays the most minutes off of the bench, though it will be intriguing to see the lineups Coach Terry Stotts pairs together once the starting unit earns some rest.  I would imagine we will see a backcourt of Lillard/Williams at some point, as well as a rotation of Robinson/Aldridge.  I hope to see Dorell Wright at the stretch 4 spot some too.

Matchup To Watch: Matthews vs. Bledsoe
Storyline to Follow:  Channing Frye plays again! 

Keys to the Game:
1 Win the turnover battle- The best way to keep a lesser team in the game is to give away possessions.  Winning the turnover battle, and keeping them under 12, will help the Blazers put the game away early.
2 Win the rebound battle- Can LA and Lopez rebound together effectively?  We saw a preview that it may be a sustainable starting duo in the preseason, but, the sample size is far too small to make any true judgements. I want to see tenacity on the boards tonight.
3 Lillard scores 20- Like it or not, Lillard is this team's go to player, and he will need to score early, and keep his foot on the pedal to pace the team's scoring output.

Prediction:  Blazers 101, Suns 91