Suns Jump All Over Blazers Early, Run Away With Opener - BullsClips's Dynasty

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Suns Jump All Over Blazers Early, Run Away With Opener

Posted on May 29, 2011 at 03:02 PM.

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PORTLAND, Ore. - The Durant-Nowitzki era began with a bang for the Suns, as they jumped all over the Blazers at the Rose Garden on Tuesday night as the visitors left Portland with a blowout victory. Kevin Durant led the way for Phoenix with 33 points, and Dirk Nowitzki added 30 of his own in the 119-90 romp. Blazers point guard and first round selection Derrick Rose struggled in his Portland debut, shooting 3-15 from the field and finishing with just 10 points and six assists.

In addition to the big nights by Durant and Nowitzki, Phoenix floor general Mike Conley set a career-high with 16 assists and also added 11 points. Marcus Thornton played his role of complimentary scorer well as he came up with 14 points on 6-10 shooting.

�I know my role on this team, and it is simply to take the load off of Kevin and Dirk,� Thornton said after his solid debut performance. �We jelled really well in the preseason, and that certainly carried over tonight. This team is ready to do big things, and tonight was just the beginning.�

Head coach Alvin Gentry preached tempo for his new group of Suns, going slightly against his philosophy last season, but the running game produced results that no one will argue with.

�Everyone has to make adjustments with these new rosters, so I believe Portland will rebound and come together nicely,� said Gentry in his postgame news conference. �We dictated the pace tonight, and will look to do the same each night. You will see a lot of effort from our guys every night, and I am very happy with the start this evening.�

Portland was led by Rashard Lewis, who put up 28 points of his own, shooting 5-14 from behind the arc, but it was nowhere near enough for the Blazers, who fell to 0-1. They travel to Los Angeles tomorrow night to take on Dwight Howard and the Clippers. The Suns travel to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Jazz on Thursday night from the EnergySolutions Arena at 7:30 p.m. MT.

Notable Statistics
PHX: K. Durant: 33 pts, 5 rebs; D. Nowitzki: 30 pts, 8 rebs; M. Conley: 11 pts, 16 ast; M. Thornton: 14 pts, 6 rebs; N. Young 11 pts.
POR: R. Lewis: 28 pts; D. Rose: 10 pts on 3-15 fgs, M. Redd 14 pts, 7 ast; W. Johnson: 13 pts.

Oct 26, 2010 - PHX at POR
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Phoenix Suns (1-0)	38	29	26	26	119
Portland Trailblazers (0-1)	23	20	25	22	90

Phoenix Suns
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Mike Conley	24	4-7	1-2	2-2	3	16	3	1	1	11
Marcus Thornton	21	6-9	1-2	1-2	6	0	0	0	0	14
Kevin Durant	28	13-18	2-5	5-6	5	2	3	0	2	33
Dirk Nowitzki	32	10-19	2-5	8-8	8	4	2	1	1	30
Tyson Chandler	25	2-6	0-0	0-0	4	0	0	0	0	4
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Nick Young	14	3-4	2-2	3-4	1	0	1	1	0	11
Kirk Hinrich	17	3-7	0-2	1-1	2	6	2	0	3	7
Omer Asik	16	2-2	0-0	0-0	2	2	2	0	1	4
Thabo Sefalosha	10	1-1	0-0	2-4	4	0	1	0	1	4
Brandon Bass	9	0-1	0-0	1-2	2	0	0	0	2	1
James Jones	9	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Daniel Gibson - DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
TEAM TOTALS		44-74	8-18	23-29	37	30	15	3	12	119

Portland Trailblazers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Derrick Rose	33	3-15	0-4	4-4	5	7	0	0	7	10
Michael Redd	26	6-12	2-5	0-0	2	7	2	0	0	14
Rashard Lewis	32	10-20	5-14	3-3	1	2	0	0	0	28
Derrick Favors	33	5-5	0-0	0-0	9	1	5	1	1	10
Greg Oden	33	5-7	0-0	0-0	11	4	2	2	5	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Wesley johnson	13	4-10	0-0	5-5	2	0	0	0	0	13
Jonas Jerebko	8	1-2	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	0	0	2
Al Thornton	9	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	2
Darko Milicic	9	0-2	0-0	1-2	0	0	2	0	2	1
Mustafa Shakur	8	0-3	0-2	0-0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Bill Walker	3	0-2	0-2	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shawne Williams - DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
TEAM TOTALS		35-79	7-27	13-14	32	22	12	3	16	90