Nicolas Batum shines as Portland Trail Blazers hold off Phoenix Suns
Nicolas Batum was involved in different trade rumours during the off-season, and Tuesday 26 October's game proved why the Blazers were very reluctant to get rid of him.
The 21-year old forward tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds in just under 27 minutes, leading the Portland Trail Blazers to an emphatic 106-92 victory over the Phoenix Suns on NBA opening night,
Tuesday in Portland.
The 6ft 8in Frenchman scored 11 points, highlighted by three 3-pointers, which sparked an 18-1 romp in the final 5:44 of the game.
All-star shooting guard Brandon Roy racked up 24 points and six assists for the Blazers, while Marcus Camby provided much-needed help inside, as the veteran centre scored 13 points and grabbed
10 rebounds.
Wesley Matthews, who was snatched by the Blazers from the Jazz during the free agency period, provided a big spark from the bench with his 13 points and six rebounds, while rookie Armon Johnson
had an impressive debut as he finished the game with six points and three assists in just nine minutes of playing time.
"Armon played nine minutes, but it felt like he was out there forever. That's the kind of impact he had, and that's what we need," said Matthews about the rookie guard, Johnson.
The Suns, who knocked off the Blazers in the first round of the play-offs last season, played without Amar'e Stoudemire, who opted to sign a lucrative deal with the New York Knicks during
the summer.
Without Stoudemire, two-time MVP Steve Nash shouldered the scoring load with his 26 points, while Jason Richardson added 22 points for the Suns, but it was not enough to give the Suns an
opening night victory.
"We didn't quite have enough tonight but I'm optimistic that one of these days it's going to click for us and we'll be a good team," Nash said.
Suns head coach Alvin Gentry admitted that the team is still adjusting after losing Stoudemire, who was Nash’s partner in the vaunted pick-and-roll offense of the Suns.
"You'll see a lot of things in the next month from us until we get things figured out," coach Alvin Gentry said before the game.
However, Blazers head coach Nate McMillan thinks otherwise and said that Stoudemire absence was not felt tonight because of the terrific playmaking skills of Nash, and Richardson’s offensive
prowess.
"It's a good start. People are trying to write Phoenix off because Amar'e Stoudemire is gone, but Steve Nash is an unbelievable player," McMillan said. "Our guys played the game we wanted
to play. In the second half, we stopped turning the ball over, got some penetration, got good ball movement and controlled the boards."
Hedo Turkoglu, who was acquired by the Suns along with Josh Childress after losing Stoudemire, struggled on both ends of the floor.
The sweet-shooting forward, who led the Turkish National Team to a silver-medal finish in the 2010 World Championship, only scored six points, and had a lot of troubles in guarding the much-bigger
power forward of the Blazers like LaMarcus Aldridge, who tallied eight points and nine rebounds.
The Blazers also dominated the boards with their 48 rebounds as compared to Suns’ 30.
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