Phoenix at Portland

The Trailblazers already have residual injury issues to deal with as Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla won't be in action. Rich Cho is the new GM for the Blazers and has surprisingly replaced Kevin Prichard, who did a good job a year ago. Even with all of the injuries the Blazers had to deal with, they still won 50 games. The Blazers have additional issues with Rudy Fernandez already being fined, and has made some derogatory comments about the Portland front office and wants out. That is not the best way to start a season. The Suns won 54 games a year ago and no longer have Amare Stoudemire. But as long as Steve Nash is in uniform, the Suns will be very competitive as he makes everyone around him better. Under Alvin Gentry, the Suns are 76-51 ATS including 58-38 ATS last season. There are too many negative issues in Portland to be laying this many to a competent Phoenix team. Phoenix has a chance to win this, but I think they at least keep it close.