Miller, Oden shine in 'Turn Back the Clock' loss

Suns' Nash, Barbosa too much for defense-shy Blazers

By Kerry Eggers

The Portland Tribune, Oct 14, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

L.E. BASKOW / THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE

Bill Schonely is back at the radio microphone for play-by-play, calling the second half of Wednesday's Trail Blazer exhibition game in the team's return to Memorial Coliseum.

Andre Miller and Greg Oden continued to make a strong push for starting roles Wednesday night, but the Trail Blazers had little success stopping the Phoenix Suns in a 110-104 preseason loss.

It was Turn Back the Clock night as the Blazers began celebration of their 40th anniversary by playing their first game at Memorial Coliseum — home of the franchise for its first 25 seasons — since moving to the Rose Garden in 1995.

A sellout crowd of 11,740 watched the Suns win a fast-paced contest in which Portland at times resembled the original Blazers — who allowed opponents to average 120 points a game en route to a 29-53 record — from a defensive standpoint.

“We never established ourselves on the defensive end of the floor,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said. “We let (the Suns) control the tempo. We scored, but we didn’t play any defense.”

Guards Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa had everything working, combining for 48 points as they carved up their Blazer counterparts.

Phoenix (2-2) — which averaged an NBA-high 109.4 points during the 2008-09 regular season — shot .500 from the field and .522 (12 of 23) from 3-point territory and ran the pick-and-roll to death in handing Portland its second straight loss after two exhibition wins.

“Nash is so good, and we hadn’t scouted them,” Portland’s Brandon Roy said. “When we helped, he’d kick it to the corner to Barbosa. When we didn’t help, Amare (Stoudemire) was dunking.

“Next time we see them (Oct. 22 at Phoenix in the final preseason game), we’ll have a better idea how to guard that. We used a lot of different lineups tonight, different big men, and our calls were a little different.”

Nash collected 23 points and 15 assists and sank 10 of 16 from the field — including 2 of 2 from 3-point range — in 33 minutes. Barbosa, playing mostly the shooting guard alongside Nash, was 10 for 17, sinking 5 of 7 from beyond the arc, en route to 25 points in only 24 minutes.

Miller had his best game yet in a Portland uniform, putting together a sensational fourth quarter in a futile comeback bid. The veteran point guard — acquired via free agency in the offseason — scored 19 of his 25 points in the final period, making 6 of 8 from the field and 6 of 6 from the line.

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