The Portland Trail Blazers beat out the Phoenix Suns with a 48-point deficit in the NBA season opener game on Wednesday with a final score of 124-76. The Blazers entered the Talking Stick Resort Arena to play against the Suns without their second-leading scorer and starting shooting guard, CJ McCollum. The NBA suspended CJ McCollum after leaving the vicinity of the bench during an altercation in the preseason finale against the Suns. The suspension was announced by Kiki Vandeweghe, the Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations of the NBA.
Although the Blazers were undermanned, they managed to outscore the Suns with the biggest deficit and the worst loss in the history of the NBA season openers with the final score of 124-76.
The Blazers averaged 48.9 percent shooting from the field, 58.3 percent in three-point shooting, with 18 turnovers and 73 rebounds.
The game recap
The Blazers dominated the Suns as they had six players in double figures in the game. The star point guard led it, Damian Lillard, who scored 27 points on 50 percent shooting from the field with five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a steal in 30 minutes game time. The reserve guard, Pat Connaughton, took advantage of McCollum’s absence by scoring 24 points, averaging 64 percent shooting from the field, with two rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes of work off the Blazer bench.
Meanwhile, the highest scorer in the Suns was Eric Bledsoe with only 15 points averaging 27.7 percent shooting from the field. Both Devin Booker and Mike James added 12 points each for the Suns. The Phoenix averaged only 31.5 percent shooting from the field, 25.9 percent from three-point shooting with 16 turnovers and 45 rebounds.
Biggest loss in the history of NBA season openers and in the Suns' franchise history
The Phoenix Suns created history in the NBA season opener and in franchise history as they lost to Portland Trail Blazers with the final score of 124-76. The 48-point deficit against the Blazers became the newest record of the biggest loss in the NBA season opener history and in the Suns' franchise history.
The Los Angeles Clippers held the previous record on November 6, 1987, in their game against the Denver Nuggets with a 46-point deficit. The Suns' franchise previous worst-loss was a 44-point deficit against the Seattle Supersonics on April 2, 1988.
The Suns were expected to be bad this season but no one expected them to be this bad. The Suns weren’t just bad in their 48-point deficit against the Blazers, but they were historically awful. It was the most one-sided season-opening loss by any team in the history of NBA and the worst defeat by the Suns in their 49 years.
The Suns' coach Earl Watson said he was “embarrassed” by what happened. He said, “Portland came in here and basically kicked our butts as bad as they could. They didn’t have no sympathy.”
