Suns dominate Portland to even series

Basketball Betting Lines

04/21/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash recorded 13 points and 16 assists, and the Phoenix Suns evened their Western Conference quarterfinal series with a 119-90 rout of the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2.

Jason Richardson added a game-high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting for the Suns, who were the lone home team to lose Game 1 of their opening round series. Grant Hill poured in 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Amare Stoudemire had 18 points and seven boards in the convincing win.

Phoenix, which recorded only four fastbreak points in Game 1, got 17 out of their high-powered offense in this contest. In addition, the Suns cut their turnovers from 12 to only seven.

"We ran off (defensive) stops," said Phoenix head coach Alvin Gentry. "(Portland) didn't shoot the ball well. It's a lot easier to run off stops. Our defense was better, and when our defense is better, we're able to run a lot better because we're in the open floor."

Martell Webster led a weak Portland offensive attack with 16 points off the bench, as the Blazers failed to build on their 105-100 win in Game 1. Andre Miller, who tied a playoff career-high with 31 points on Sunday, had only 12 in Tuesday's loss.

"(Phoenix) got to their tempo," said Portland head coach Nate McMillan. "We knew that they would come out aggressive. You can expect that after losing a game. You can talk about a sense of urgency that they would come out with, and we needed to match that. We never did."

This series shifts to Portland for Games 3 and 4, with the next contest to be played on Thursday at the Rose Garden.

Phoenix jumped out to an early lead, with Richardson's back-to-back threes accounting for a 32-20 margin late in the first.

Portland ended the first with six straight points to cut its deficit to six, but Leandro Barbosa's three-point play for the Suns put the hosts ahead, 39-28, early in the second.

Hill had six points during a half-ending 9-4 spurt that increased Phoenix's advantage to 63-49 at the break, and a 13-4 run early in the third made it a 78-58 game after Richardson's layup midway through the period.

The Blazers struggled to get anything going and trailed, 94-68, heading into the fourth. Both teams emptied the benches in the final 12 minutes, as the Suns coasted to the victory.

Game Notes

The Suns have not lost consecutive home games since December 21-23 and have not lost two straight games since January 25-26...Phoenix has now won nine straight games following a loss...The Suns, who shot 41 percent in Game 1, made 52.3 percent of their shots Tuesday, while Portland shot only 38.2 percent...The Suns are 16-10 in series in which they split the first two games...Despite its Game 1 win, Portland is still 2-12 in its last 14 road playoff games...Prior to the game, the Blazers signed center Marcus Camby to a two-year contract. Portland acquired Camby from the Clippers at the trade deadline; he had six points and 10 boards in Tuesday's loss...Portland's Nicolas Batum left the game in the second half with a shoulder strain. McMillan said he would undergo an MRI, and his status going forward is uncertain.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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