Portland's best answer to all of that is how it has handled the road. The Blazers are 4-0 away from home after coming back from 12 down to win in Denver 118-110. That was their first regular-season win in Denver after 18 straight road losses there. Deni Avdija scored 28, 9 of them in the 4th quarter. Damian Lillard added 20, and Jrue Holiday came off the bench for 17 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. A bench guard filling the box score like that is why this team doesn't fold when it falls behind.
The Blazers do have a schedule problem. They're in a stretch of 6 road games in 7, and Wednesday comes right after a full 4 quarters at altitude in Denver. Phoenix is in the same spot, coming home after playing in San Francisco. Neither team gets a rest advantage, but Portland is further into a long trip, and a team that keeps winning by coming from behind has to run out of legs at some point.
For Phoenix this comes down to 2 things. Can Booker carry an offense that loses steam after the 1st quarter, and can anyone in a rotation without Williams keep Clingan off the glass? The Suns have the home crowd and a shooter who just put 43 on Golden State. Portland has Avdija playing the best ball on the floor, a bench that can take over a quarter, and the 41-point opener as proof of how badly this matchup can go for Phoenix. Tipoff is 7:00 PM MT.
