Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns roll into town to square off against Deni Avdija and the Portland Trail Blazers in Western Conference action tonight. And, for the first time in 23 years, a Blazers game will be shown on the NBA on NBC.
The last time they played Roundball Rock before a Blazers game, former teammates Bill Walton and Steve Jones traded barbs throughout the broadcast, the Moda center was known as The Rose Garden, Paul Allen owned the team, Maurice Cheeks was a first-year coach, Scottie Pippen was the Blazer wearing number 33, Steve Kerr was on the bench, and Zach Randolph was a rookie. The Blazers underperformed and finished in sixth place that year. The team was swept in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers on their way to a three-peat. (Fun fact: 2002 was the final year in which the first round of the NBA playoffs was a best of five series.)
This 2025 Blazers team is just back from a ten day road trip in which it dropped four out of five games, but saw Shaedon Sharpe string together a series of high scoring explosions. The team is still learning to close. It looks to get right against a Phoenix squad attempting to bounce back from an epic Sunday night collapse versus the Hawks.
What You Need to Know
Portland Trail Blazers (6-7) vs. Phoenix Suns (8-6) - Fri., Nov. 14 - 8pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: NBC
How to watch via streaming: Peacock
How to listen: Trail Blazers Audio Network
SB Nation Affiliate: Bright Side of the Sun
Trail Blazers injuries: Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, Matisse Thybulle, Blake Wesley (Out) Jrue Holiday (Day-to-day)
Rockets injuries: Jalen Green (Out) Grayson Allen (Day-to-day)
What to Watch For:
Brighter Days in Phoenix. Much like the story in Portland, this Phoenix team started the season with low expectations, but has jumped out of the gate playing an entertaining, winning brand of basketball. The team is fun, but is it good?
Bone Thugs ’n’ Harmony. The NBA fined former Oregon Ducks forward Dillon Brooks $25,000 Friday for a lewd gesture he made during the Suns’ 133-98 win over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. He is averaging a career high 22.2 points per game this season. The Suns’ other reputed dirty player, Grayson Allen, is out with injury.
By the Numbers.
The Trail Blazers average 121.5 points per game. That is 7.1 more points than the 114.4 points the Suns typically allow.
The Suns average 118.8 points per game. Trail Blazers allow an average of 122.2 points per game.While the Suns offense is less Booker-centric than in seasons past, their star guard is averaging a career high 28.4 points per game.
Dave Deckard filed a must-read breakdown of the Blazers’ defensive woes.
“The Blazers currently average 52.2 points in the paint allowed. At the start of November, that number was 46.7. That’s a 5.5-point difference.
“The Blazers also rank 10th in assists per possession defense, allowing opponents assists on 24.7% of plays. Before they started losing, they were 4th at 21.9%.”
What Others Are Saying:
A Throwback Season. Brynn Tannehill at Bright Side of the Sun likens this Phoenix group to a stacked 1997 team straight out of the NBA on NBC archives which featured Michael Finley, Robert Horry, Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson and Steve Nash playing alongside Blazers stalwart Mark Bryant.
“They featured a superstar who did it all in big guard (Kidd then, Booker now) and a lightning-quick penetrating guard who can’t seem to stay healthy due to hamstring injuries (Kevin Johnson then, Jalen Green now) and had a so-so three-point shot. They both featured a chippy, athletic, white shooting guard three-point specialist who saw a lot of time at small forward (Rex Chapman then, Grayson Allen now).”
New Power Generation. Earlier this summer, the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag made a related comparison, matching today’s players with their historical analogs.
“I see similarities between Toumani Camara and Jerome Kersey. Kersey was a second-round pick who made the team with this relentless attitude and refusal to step backwards. Camara was a relatively-unknown throw-in to the Lillard trade mess who has now become a starter and backbone of the lineup. He’s not going to be the team’s leading scorer. He probably won’t be as good of a scorer as Kersey was, even. But he’s the guts, the fire, the guy you send after key opponents whom you want to disturb.”
Which past Blazers team would you compare this group to?
A Toumani Guarantee. Speaking of the current Blazer wearing number 33, Toumani Camara says, “We’re going to bounce back.”
📺 🏀 👀. Joe Freeman reports that despite the team losing five of its last seven, the local television audience for Trail Blazers games has spiked this season.
“The Blazers have enjoyed a 118% year-over-year spike in local viewership for games aired on KUNP, which represents the third-largest increase of any team in the NBA…”
Now, cue the John Tesh.