PORTLAND, OR — Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green was in the middle of it and still had trouble measuring the amount of wreckage in that first quarter of his team's shocking 124-83 opening-night loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Moda Center.
“Offense is one thing, defensively, we can't give up, I don't know how much it was," Green said.
Try 43 points on 52% shooting for the Portland Trail Blazers in building a 31-point lead.
The Blazers started the game on a 21-0 run, shot 8-of-16 from 3 in the first quarter and limited the Suns to 4-of-20 shooting with a 0-of-7 whiff from 3 in the game's first 12 minutes.
“This is definitely a wake-up call for us,” Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker said. “I’m glad it happened early.”
More like
a call for help. Please save us from this abomination.
"This is definitely a wakeup call for us. I'm glad it happened early."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) October 22, 2026
Devin Booker after Suns 124-83 loss to Blazers as they trailed by 31 at the end of one.
"Everything went wrong. We have a lot to learn from the tape offensively and defensively. I think they were killing us… pic.twitter.com/dkBKQx4512
The Suns also lost Oso Ighodaro to injury as he grabbed at his right hip after making a basket late in the first half. He didn’t play in the second half. Ighodaro sat out the final preseason game Oct. 16 with hip soreness. He didn’t miss a game last season.
Phoenix already was missing Luke Kennard, who was ruled out Wednesday with left knee tendinopathy after being listed as questionable. He suffered the injury in the fourth preseason game Oct. 14 and sat out the final one Oct. 16.
Now the Suns are down two key players after just one game.
Here are 5 key takeaways from Wednesday’s ugly loss. The Suns (0-1) play their home opener on Oct. 24 against the Golden State Warriors (0-1) at 7 p.m., at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Why the Suns imploded early
Not only did the Blazers feed off a sellout crowd of 19,367, they gave their fans reason to cheer with every basket, steal and amazing play.
This was before Damian Lillard started bombing away in scoring a game-high 25 points. Shooting 6-of-10 from 3, Lillard was making his real return to Portland after missing last with the Achilles injury.
Once he got it going, it was a wrap. The crowd was rocking and roaring.
Jordan Ott's timeouts couldn't stop what was happening. The Suns were aiding Portland by letting the Blazers get to wherever they wanted.
"Offense is one thing, defensively, we can't give up, I don't know how much it was."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) October 22, 2026
Jalen Green as Blazers scored 43 points on 52% shooting (8-of-16 from 3) in the first quarter of a 124-83 loss in opener.
"Offensively, good things will happen when we get stops and get out… pic.twitter.com/OV8IbNkqlQ
Phoenix’s defense lost this game. Yes, the Suns couldn’t make a shot to get the Blazers out of their drop coverage and didn’t handle Portland’s physicality, but offensively, Portland had its way with Phoenix.
Let's be clear. The Blazers have some players. Four impact guards in Scoot Henderson, Jrue Holiday, Ja Morant and Lillard. Two bigs in Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III, All-Star Deni Avdija and a defensive stopper with length in Toumani Camara.
The win marked Micah Nori's first career win as an NBA head coach.
Booker, Morant get into it early
Early in the first quarter, Ja Morant was trying to back down Booker into the paint.
Not happening, but Booker was called for a foul contesting Morant’s shot.
“Yeah? Where’s your water gun? where’s your water gun? Ain’t no one scared of you”
— KingsShowYo (@KingsShowYoo) October 22, 2026
— Devin Booker and Ja Morant get into it on opening night 😭✌🏽 pic.twitter.com/LGsXDwt7Mu
That led to a little back-and-forth in which Booker asked Morant, “Where’s your water gun?'', according to a tweet from KingsShowYo.
Ouch.
The two were separated and received double technical fouls with 6:36 left in the first quarter and Phoenix down, 17-0.
I thought this could’ve been a turning point for Phoenix, but it just got worse for the Suns.
"(Donovan) Clingan hit a couple. Then Ja (Morant) hit one, Deni (Avdija) hit one I think from the right side. Those felt like they were contested and then we couldn't any force offensively. They were great, they were physical defensively. Their big was back in drop. Got to make a… pic.twitter.com/uIt0NDKlpZ
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) October 22, 2026
Rough start for Maluach
OK. Didn’t see this coming.
Even though I said before training camp that Khaman Maluach should be the future starting center, I really thought Ott was going to start Ighodaro, who is more experienced and has played in more meaningful games. But Ott went with Maluach, likely in part to matchup with Blazers 7-footer Clingan.
Then he watched Clingan splash two 3s to start the game with Maluach in the area to start the Portland avalanche.
Maluach’s numbers tell one story – two points on two shot attempts, six rebounds in 17 minutes. His play does, too. He learned there are levels.
Maluach saw some action late last regular season and postseason with Mark Williams out with a foot injury and even got his first career start, but this was the first time he started a game like this.
Maluach can be proud of starting a season opener. It shows he won a competition against someone he respects and has great value to the team, but Maluach left the arena knowing he didn’t meet the moment.
"I got to do a better job of protecting the basket, being there for my teammates,'' he said. "So I'm going to watch minutes and watch the whole game overall and really learn from it. It's just a process for me, like a step by step. I just got to make sure I get better every game. I just got to make sure I don't make the same mistake twice."
No 3s, no hustle plays for Suns
Phoenix’s formula for success last season included more than hustle plays. They shot the ball well from 3. Forced turnovers. Won the possession game. They worked the offensive boards and played solid to standout defense.
Those elements were nonexistent, for the most part, Wednesday night.
Portland committed 17 turnovers, but Phoenix only scored 11 points off them. The Suns had 13 offensive rebounds, but they managed just 12 second-chance points.
When the 3 isn’t falling, a team has to manufacture points and defend. The Suns did neither.
A question entering the season was whether the Suns will have enough perimeter shooting after trading Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, two of the team's best 3-point shooters last season, for MIles Bridges.
It’s just one game, but they certainly didn’t have enough against the Blazers, especially without Kennard, another off-season acquisition, who has led the league in 3-point shooting percentage three times.
Collin Gillespie, coming off setting a single-season record for made 3s with 232 last season, went 0-for-8 from distance Wednesday.
That can’t happen, especially with Kennard out. Bridges went blank also, 0-for-5.
Then there’s Booker, who didn’t even attempt a 3.
He’s coming off a season of making just 33% of his 3s last season and only knocked down two from deep on 16 attempts in the preseason, but Booker can’t go without attempting one.
"It's a blessing, man. I worked for this to be at this level."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) October 22, 2026
Suns rookie Koa Peat on his NBA debut (4 pts, 1 reb) in 124-83 loss to Blazers in season opener.
On his technical foul: "I was trying to be 'The Suns Way,' trying to protect our teammate. Hopefully they rescind it.… pic.twitter.com/pAXN00DRIk
Koa Peat tech
Koa Peat drew his first technical in his NBA debut trying to do the right thing.
“I was trying to be 'The Suns Way,' trying to protect our teammate,” he said after the game. “Hopefully they rescind it. I'm sure one of my vets will pay for that."
If they don’t, hey vets, take care of that fine that goes along with a tech, if for the following reason only. Peat scored four points in his debut to help the Suns avoid experiencing their worst margin of defeat ever in consecutive seasons.
The Oklahoma City Thunder drummed them by 49 points last season.
The Blazers were on their way to winning by an even wider margin, but Peat helped make sure Phoenix didn’t lose by 50 or more.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 5 takeaways from Phoenix Suns opening-night disaster against Blazers
