Suns v Blazers Preview: 10 Suns opening night facts you didn’t know

Phoenix Suns (0-0) v Portland Trail Blazers (0-0)

Wednesday 10/18/2017 7pm
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Arizona Sports 98.7FM/Fox Sports Arizona

2016-17 Season Series – Blazers won 3-1
All-Time Series –Suns lead 120-99
Last Matchup – Portland won 130-117
Suns’ Last Game – Win over the Brisbane Bullets 114-93
Bullets’ Last Game – Win over Haifi Maccabee Haifa 129-81
2016-17 Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 107.7 (9th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 113.3 (30th of 30)
2016-17 Bullets’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 107.9 (8th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 108.5 (25th of 30)

Preview

This is it!

For 49 years the Phoenix Suns have been leading up to this moment – the start of their 50th season. Can you feel it? Can you feel 49 years of exciting, fast-paced, heart-pounding, knuckle-whitening, Phoenix Suns action all boiling over into this, the golden anniversary of one of North American professional sports’ most successful franchises?

Maybe that’s a little hyperbolic, but there is a very real sense that the future is here, and this season might be the one to catapult the franchise into the next 50 years.

There is no doubt that 2017-18 is going to be rough, mind you. The team isn’t expected to win much as they continue to develop their extremely young core; there is every possibility in the world that any number of their veterans of Tyson Chandler, Eric Bledsoe, Jared Dudley, and Brandon Knight might be moved for other young players or draft picks; and of course they are a terrible defensive team, allowing 113.3 points per game last season, and a putrid 114.3 per game in their four preseason games against NBA teams over the last couple of weeks.

The Suns will open their 50th season against the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that snuck into the playoffs last in the season after a torrid second half run took them from certain lottery draft status to a “well, duh” sweep at the hands of the first seed Golden State Warriors. With the now maxed out Western Conference, a return to the playoffs might be just as miraculous even if they have an equivalent historic run in them at some point this season. While the core of their team is almost entirely intact, and they will now have Jusaf Nurkic for the entire season, Portland will be somewhat behind the 8-ball as they only finished with a 41-41 record last season, needing their 17-6 run to end the season just to get themselves to that point.

The Suns, on the other hand, would need more than a miracle to reach the playoffs, and as such probably understand to a man that they will be spending the offseason at home for the despressingly eighth consecutive season. That’s not to say though that they can’t surprise a few teams and make a move here or there to continue to inject a youthful vibe into a franchise dedicated to building for the future.

Could the Suns steal a win, at home, on opening night, wearing their classic and clean original throwback uniforms? Sure they can, and against Portland, there might not be anything miraculous about it.

Next: Ranking the Phoenix Suns' top uniforms of all-time

Interesting (Opening Night) Statistics/Facts

Phoenix Suns

1. The Phoenix Suns lost last season’s opening night matchup at home to the Sacramento Kings, 113-94, whereas the Portland Trail Blazers won theirs versus the Utah Jazz 113-104.

2. All-time on opening night, the Suns are 25-24.

3. They are 16-8 at home, and 9-16 on the road.

4. The Suns and Blazers last met on Opening Night in 2013, the only other time in the two franchise’s histories that they opened the season in Phoenix. The Suns won 104-91.

4a. The two teams have met in Portland on six other occasions, with the Blazers currently holding a five game winning streak.

1975 – 89-88 W

1981 – 95-103 L

1985 – 123-128* L (This was the first overtime game on Opening Night in Phoenix Suns history)

1987 – 104-114 L

1988 – 105-120 L

2010 – 92-106 L

Phoenix Suns

5. The most points the Suns have ever opened the season with is 136 in a 136-106 victory over the Golden State Warriors in 1989.

6. The fewest points came in 2002 when they dropped only 73 points in a 73-86 loss at Seattle.

7. The most points the Suns have allowed on Opening Night is the 128 to Portland as mentioned above. (The most they have allowed in a non-overtime game is 123 in a 127-123 victory over the Golden State Warriors in 1986.)

8. The fewest points allowed on Opening Night by the Suns is 82 in a 112-82 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in 2004.

9. The Suns have held four-game Opening Night winning streaks on two occasions, from 1977-80, and again from 1989-92.

10. Their longest losing streak on Opening Night stretched five seasons from 1999-03