Phoenix Suns vs Portland Trail Blazers Live Streaming

Phoenix Suns vs Portland Trail Blazers Live | Phoenix Suns vs Portland Trail Blazers | Phoenix Suns vs Portland Trail Blazers Streaming | Phoenix vs Portland NBA Live Stream | Phoenix Suns vs Portland Trail Blazers Live Webcast

10:30 pm EDT Thu Apr 29, 2010

A blast-right-by-them style has served the Suns well against the Trail Blazers. And tempo will likely be a deciding factor on Thursday night when Phoenix visits Portland with a 3-2 advantage and a chance to advance to the next round of the playoffs. When the Blazers have had success, they have been able to slow the Suns down and go to a half-court defense. The player who seems to have found the most success imposing his will has been Amare Stoudemire, who has averaged 20.2 points over the course of the series with gritty—and what Portland fans would call nasty—play. Matchup problems with Stoudemire have befuddled the Blazers as much as his toughness. The more the team focuses on him, the more it opens up someone else. In Game 3, which the Suns won 108-89 at the Rose Garden, Jason Richardson was the beneficiary and had 42 points, including eight 3-pointers. Richardson is averaging 22.6 points in the series.

While the Blazers have home court for Thursday’s game, Portland coach Nate McMillan is counting on the intangibles to force a Game 7. Namely, the Blazers have faced their share of obstacles this season and far exceeded expectations. Case in point, the Blazers have already stretched the series much further than most expected. Portland had two major strikes against it: they were facing one of the league’s hottest second-half teams, and they were doing it without their captain. All-star guard Brandon Roy missed the final two games of the regular season with a torn meniscus in his right knee. Although he claimed he could play on it, he had arthroscopic surgery two days before the opening game against the Suns and was ruled out of the series. Roy unexpectedly returned eight days after the procedure, and it was generally agreed that the emotional boost he provided—and the surprise to the Suns—helped carry the Blazers to a 96-87 victory in Game 4.