Over the last 4 days or so I've seen so many articles about Phoenix and how they have turned it up a notch in blowing Portland away in games 2 and 3. That really sat funny with me, being a Blazer fan obviously I didn't like it. All the talk of how unstoppable Phoenix is when running their offense, how great and mighty they have become in the second half of the season. When I look at the out come of the first 4 games I see something different. It appears to me that really each of the games have come down to which team dictates the tempo/style of the game. If Phoenix Runs = Phoenix Wins If Portland Walks = Portland Wins It's about that simple. Doesn't really matter who's in the game or where the game is played. Their bench can be freakishly effective in their style. Our bench rise from game to game and pick up the slack when we play our game. Portland's tempo/style is miss leading. You can look at the games and say, well Phoenix beat us by 20+ two times and we only managed a meager 8 point win average in our two wins. Phoenix is the better team. FALSE. In their running and firing style, they are going to score more points, wither you score along with them or not. It's intended to speed up the game with quick easy shots. Portland slows things down. They try to make every possession both offense and defense take a full 24 seconds. In that kind of game a 5 or 6 point lead is the same as a 15 point game. In both Portland wins, Phoenix had 4 fast break points! Say that out loud because it's hard to imagine if you don't. Phoenix only had 4 fast break points to Portland's 16. The real question should not be how are the teams going to make adjustments. The real question is who is going to dictate the style of play. THAT will be the one who wins the game and the series. Portland in 6!
