Portland Trail Blazers vs Phoenix Suns Prediction & Match Preview - October 13th, 2021

The Portland Trail Blazers will clash with the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday at Footprint Center in Phoenix. While the Suns have played three games, the Trail Blazers have played two games thus far in the preseason. Both teams were fantastic in the 2020-21 regular season and will look to use the preseason to prepare for the much anticipated 2021-22 regular season.

Match Details

Fixture: Portland Trail Blazers vs Phoenix Suns | NBA Preseason 2021-22.

Date & Time: Wednesday, October 13th, 5:00 PM ET (Thursday, October 14th, 2:30 AM IST).

Venue: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ.

Portland Trail Blazers Preview

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The Portland Trail Blazers remain without a win so far in the preseason. Although they have only played two games, the team seems haphazard without Damian Lillard's lead. Likely, Lillard might not play in the game against the Phoenix Suns and so it will be a test of Chauncey Billups' coaching.

Dennis Smith Jr, Jusuf Nurkic, and Anfernee Simons have performed brilliantly for the Trail Blazers up until now but whether their performance will be enough to thwart the Suns, only time will tell.

Key Player - Anfernee Simons

Although Anfernee Simons has not been a dominant scorer in his three years with Portland, he has performed exceptionally well during the 2021-22 preseason. After scoring 10 points and 6 dimes in the game against the Golden State Warriors, Simons went all out in the last game against the Sacramento Kings.

With 24 points in 32 minutes, the 22-year-old shooting guard was the highest scorer of the game. In Lillard's absence, Simons may become the key to the Portland Trail Blazers' win.

Portland Trail Blazers Predicted Lineup

G - Anfernee Simons, G - CJ Elby, F - Larry Nance Jr, F - Robert Covington, C - Jusuf Nurkic

Phoenix Suns Preview

After a humbling defeat in their preseason debut against the Sacramento Kings, the Phoenix Suns have reclaimed their NBA authority by bullying the LA Lakers for two consecutive games.

The nostalgic besting of the LA Lakers served as a reminder of the Valley of the Suns' prowess on the court. The 2020-21 NBA finalists thwarted the Showtime team with double-digit point differences in both games even without Devin Booker's presence. And with high hopes of Booker's return, the Phoenix Suns will prove a mighty challenger for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Key Player - Chris Paul

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Chris Paul is a brilliant playmaker, perhaps even the best in the entire league. His mere presence on the court is enough to rally his teammates together to vanquish all rivals. Once in his groove, CP3 becomes a fearsome attack initiator and proves himself worthy of being nicknamed the Point God.

After missing out in the first game, his appearance on the court in the second and third game proved to be vital for the Suns' victory. While he scored only 8 points on October 6th, Paul registered a whopping 11 assists. In his second game on October 10th, he recorded 15 points and 5 assists. His performance will be decisive for the Phoenix Suns' this coming Wednesday.

Phoenix Suns Predicted Lineup

G - Chris Paul, G - Landry Shamet, F - Mikal Bridges, F - Jae Crowder, C - Deandre Ayton

Trail Blazers vs Suns Match Prediction

Although the Portland Trail Blazers boast some promising players, they have yet to perform satisfactorily this preseason. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns have been playing exemplarily and seem to be finding their groove. We believe that the Phoenix Suns will add a third consecutive victory to their record and Rip City will go through yet another disappointing loss.